Bree's Story
by TRDancer
Summary: AU. A story of Bree. Written before the publication of The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner.
1. Being Changed

**Disclaimer: Please turn to the copyright page of the nearest copy of any book in the Twilight series. Is the name Jennifer on it? Cause if it is, my prayers have been answered, and I'm the one who had an inspirational dream one night and wrote the most brilliant thing ever.**

I walked out of the ballet studio, tucking my left earphone into my ear and spinning the click wheel on my iPod nano. I settled for Newborn by Muse, and headed in the direction of my new apartment building. My mother and I had just moved into the cramped apartment in downtown Seattle from a tiny town in Alberta, where my dance education had sucked. Here, my ballet teacher rocked. She actually believed that I was serious about becoming a professional. That in itself was a blessing.

I shoved the key into the door of our apartment, and slammed it behind me. I dumped my dance bag and coat on the floor by the door and picked up a note that lay on the stove.

_Bree,  
Boss man wants me to work an extra shift. Couldn't say no. Order yourself some Thai.  
Mom._

I snorted. Not even an I love you? Mom was slacking off. But no matter, I'd call the stupid Thai place and order my food, and then I'd walk down the dark back streets that failed to scare me any longer, because the place was too poor to have delivery boys. I removed my iPod for a moment, dialled the memorized number, shoved my coat on my arms again and set out for the restaurant.

My iPod blared Running Up that Hill by Placebo in my ears as I strolled along the alleyways. I practiced my dance routine, leaping and turning down the rough path. Suddenly, I thought I saw something move up ahead, behind a dumpster. I stopped dead and peered into the darkness. I took one of my earphones out to see if I could hear anything. A dark shadow crept toward me. I still couldn't hear a thing, except Placebo in my right ear. But then a shrill, women's voice cut through the dark.

"Stop! Leave her, did you not see how graceful she was? Such a thing could be an attribute to our army."

Army? What army was this woman talking about? But the shadow had stopped advancing, and I decided that was a good thing. But now another shadow emerged from behind the dumpster. It moved more purposefully toward me, and I took a step back. All at once, the shadow was in front of me, but I still couldn't see what it was. I attempted to move back again, but the shadow held me in place.

"Now, now, darling, stay still. This needn't hurt more than a bit..." The shadow leaned toward me and I opened my mouth, intending to scream, but it never came out. I felt a sudden pain on my throat, and then on my wrist, and hell, my other wrist, and now my ankles and my insides were burning...what was happening to me? Everything hurt, and I just barely registered the second shadow telling the other shadow to pick me up, and then the music in my ear, crooning a slow classical song that made me feel especially loopy, like I was in a dream.

What kind of sick game were these people playing? I didn't understand.

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	2. What Am I?

I woke to the sound of growling. I was confused; what could be growling in my apartment? Then I felt the burning pain in my chest, and my heart beating at the speed of light and everything came flooding back. The shadow creeping toward me, the woman's voice, and then the pain, pain everywhere. The pain in my chest was the same as the pain from before, and I felt a need to scream, but I suppressed it. Those stupid _things _didn't deserve to hear my agony. My heart sped up, if that was even possible, and the burning pain ran toward my heart, and all of a sudden, my heart just stopped, and the pain was gone.

What the _hell_? My heart had just stopped beating! I started hyperventilating, and through my heavy breathing I heard a male voice.

"Will you shut up and open your eyes?" I immediately stopped breathing, and snapped my eyes open. Hovering above me was a gorgeous guy, with blonde hair. "That's better," he said in approval. I gawked at him. Because even though he was gorgeous, he had terrifyingly red eyes. I shrunk back from him.

"What are _you_? Where am I?" I asked, my voice pretty clear for me being so terrified. Actually, I sounded really pretty. What was up with that?

"My name is Riley," the blonde boy answered. "And I'm a vampire. And actually, you are too. Want to come look in the mirror?" I nodded.

"Am I going to see myself?" I wondered. Riley shook his head and looked toward the sky, obviously exasperated.

"If I had a dollar for every time someone said that...it's just a myth," he said, handing me a mirror. "What's your name?" I didn't answer him. I was too busy staring at my bright red eyes in the mirror, framed by my chin length black hair. Ugh, now I was the terrifying one, although I was pretty.

"What about burning in the sun? Garlic? Wooden stakes? Drinking human blood?" Questions poured from my mouth.

"We don't burn in the sun, but we do sparkle, so we can't go out when it's sunny. The garlic and wooden stakes are just stupid. And as for drinking human blood, I could imagine your throat is telling you the answer," Riley said smugly. Now that I thought about it, he was right. My throat was burning, like I needed a drink of water. I looked at him, slightly panicked.

"Don't worry," he said nonchalantly, "We brought dinner to you today. But don't expect pampering all the time. You'll have to hunt out your own most of the time." With that, he swept out of the room, and two other men came in, dragging a teenage girl with them. She was my age, and she looked so helpless I felt sorry for her. But then, a ferocious and delicious scent hit me, and I lunged toward it's source: the girl. I dug my teeth into her neck without a thought to her screams, and drank her dry. When I was done, I stepped back, completely clean. The two men looked at me thoughtfully.

"That was really graceful, even for a vampire," one said. "It should take decades to be able to do that." The other nodded in agreement, and then picked the dead girl up off the ground. The two left the room, and I stared at the floor. What had I just done? I had killed an innocent girl, that's what. What had she done to hurt me? Nothing. I was a freaking monster, and there was no nicer way to put it.

I threw myself on the bed to contemplate this, and tried to go to sleep. That definitely wasn't working. My brain just kept on going. I wasn't even tired, I just wanted to escape this for a bit. That obviously wasn't going to work. My new brain seemed to have so much extra space.

"Um, hello?" A female voice came from the doorway, and I sat up. In the doorway was a slight girl with long red hair that was just a bit more orange-y than her eyes, which stared at me curiously.

"Hi," I said dully, wondering what she wanted. The girl skipped over and plunked herself down next to me.

"I'm Sara," she said, all perky. Didn't she realize that she was a monster?

"Bree," I said grudgingly.

"Riley told me I had to entertain you until he got back to explain the reason you're here," she told me. I shrugged. What did vampires do for entertainment? I decided to ask Sara as much.

"Well...what did you do when you were human?" she replied.

"I was a ballet dancer." I decided to tell the truth. This truth, at least, wasn't hurting anyone. Sara's eyes widened, though.

"No wonder you're so graceful!" she exclaimed. "Let's see you dance," she prompted. I wanted to say no, but what else were we going to do? I got up and started to do the combination that we do at the beginning of every class. I imagined the music flowing through my veins and just dance. After awhile, I stopped dancing and turned to look at Sara. She was staring at me, amazed.

"Wow," she breathed. "That was really pretty."

"Yes," a voice from the doorway said, "it was."

Riley was here. It was time for me to learn the purpose of my new life.

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	3. Reason for Changing

Sara stood up, and smoothly slipped past Riley, shooting me an apologetic look. I wasn't sure what she had to be apologetic about though. I plunked back down on the bed.

"Well, it seems you've gotten acquainted with Sara," Riley commented. I nodded. Couldn't he get to the point of his little visit already? He seemed to read my mind, as his demeanour changed and he started to act serious.

"You have been created for a serious reason. There is a large coven of strange yellow-eyed vampires living in a city to the west. The city is theirs and we need to destroy them to take over the blood that is there." I felt my thirst burn at the mention of blood. I may not want to be a monster, but I couldn't stop my fate. "It will be easy, considering there is 20 other newborn vampires not including you."

"So I will fight alongside those other newborn vampires in order to destroy this coven?" I asked, wanting to simplify it in my brain.

"Yes, that's the point," Riley said approvingly. "We were changed by our Creator for this reason exactly. We are setting out next week, which should give you enough time to get used to your new body. You'll know you have the right coven when you smell this human; they always have her with them. Whoever gets to her first is allowed to have her." Riley tossed me a bright red shirt, and I inhaled the scent on it thirstily. It smelled really, really good. Like lavender almost, or maybe freesias.

Well, I guess I knew the sick game they were playing now...they wanted to wipe out some weird vampires so they could have more blood for themselves, and I guess, now for me, too.

"Anything else I should know?" I asked pointedly, tossing the shirt back at him, implying he should get out.

"We were planning a hunting trip for tonight. Would you like to come?" Riley asked.

"Who's we?" I asked.

"Everybody. We're splitting up into small groups, partners, really, definitely no more than three, but we're all going." I glared at him. If _everyone_ was going, then obviously I wanted to come too. I wasn't going to skulk around wherever we were by myself all night.

"Of course I'll come," I said, still giving him my best death glare. He smirked.

"See you there."

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	4. The Hunt

"Hey, Bree," Sara waved at me from across the gigantic room and I threaded my way through the group of newborn vampires. I couldn't help noticing their beauty, especially the guys. They were really, really gorgeous. When was I going to get over this? Probably never, with my luck. At least I didn't feel in any way attracted to Riley anymore, I noted as I observed him standing next to Sara.

"How was your afternoon?" Sara asked me when I reached her. It hadn't taken me long with my new vampire quickness.

"Fine," I replied. In truth, it had been so boring. I had pretty much just wandered around my room, completely bored, thinking about random things like what the Thai place did with the food I ordered, what my mom did when she came home to find me gone, what my dance teacher would think when I didn't show up for solo choreography. When I ran out of human things to think about, I moved onto vampire things like who my creator was, how thirsty I was, how I had been unfairly recruited for some war that I didn't even know existed before this happened.

I turned to the room and scanned it, looking for anyone who wasn't obviously a newborn. But everybody there was either standing around looking bored, or animatedly talking or fighting with each other. Two males in the corner were engaged in a physical fight, and I could tell one of them was almost dead. I almost started gaping. Was that allowed? I didn't see what I was looking for, so I turned to Riley.

"Where's the creator person? Doesn't she have to hunt too?"

"No one but me is allowed to see her. She doesn't want you to be able to think of her, your thoughts are not safe," Riley said, his voice bored like he had explained this a million times. Which, I was sure, he probably had. Riley then stood up on a stool and faced the crowd.

"Okay, newborns, you know the deal. Split into groups, no more than three, and be sure to properly dispose of your victims. That's all." He hopped back down, and headed out the door. Sara grabbed my arm.

"C'mon, Bree. We'll go to the movies," she whispered in my ear mischievously.

"The movies?" I asked, confused.

"Yup," she hailed us a cab in the moonlight, and told the driver to take us to Empire Theatres. Then in a low voice only a vampire could hear, she told me what I was to do.

I gestured toward the man to come with me, and mesmerized by my beauty, he got up out of his seat. When we had reached the exit, I snatched him up in my arms –oh my gosh, he (well, his blood) smelt heavenly; not as good as that red shirt, but still—and ran at vampire speed through the back alleys to a 20 miles away that Sara and I had agreed upon earlier. At 10 miles I couldn't resist any longer and I snapped my teeth down on his tender neck. He didn't even bother to scream, he had been staring at my face the whole time. I kept running as I drank his blood, and by the time I reached the dumpster just before the meeting point, I was done. I dumped him in and threw a lit match after him. That should do a good enough job.

"Did you have fun?" Sara asked. I nodded, because I knew that's what she wanted me to say. I was actually just glad my thirst wasn't burning quite as badly any longer. I felt terribly guilty for doing such a thing to the man. She grinned. "I knew you would." Her victim's corpse was probably burning in it's own private dumpster.

I couldn't believe I was thinking these thoughts, but I guess that was my life now. No reason to deny it. I would be the source of the headlines I used to read and shake my head at, mystified as to why anybody would want to do that to another person. Now I was the one doing it, and that had a certain amount of shame to it.

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	5. The Gorgeous Boy

I flipped that annoying piece of hair out my eyes again and concentrated. I was analyzing the leaf in front me in an effort to escape unhappy thoughts. The leaf I was staring at began twitching, and I scrunched my forehead up. Weird, why was the leaf suddenly doing spins? It spun and spun and spun as I stared until suddenly it burst into flames. I jumped slightly, and broke eye contact with the leaf. The flames went out, and ashes floated through the air to land on the ground. I stared at them in disbelief.

"Weird," I thought again, this time voicing my opinion. Someone behind me chuckled, and I spun around to face them, jumping up defensively.

"Actually, that was rather amazing. Nobody else has been lucky enough to discover a power," I found myself staring at the most beautiful boy I had ever seen in my life. He was so much more impressive than the other guys I had seen, in my past life and this one, that they were all instantly erased from my mind. There was only him, in all his glorious beauty.

"A power? I have a power?" I blurted the first thing that came to my mind that didn't have to do with the guy standing in front of me. He laughed his beautiful laugh again and nodded.

"Obviously you can manipulate objects to spin and then burst into flame. Possibly you could get humans to walk toward you, trapping them, or maybe eliminate enemy vampires by setting them on fire..." The boy continued rambling, and while part of my spacious vampire mind absorbed what he was saying, another part took the chance to examine him further.

He was about two inches taller than my 5'7", with short, messy, black hair that seemed to glow almost blue in the dim moonlight. His eyes were the generic vampire red, his cheekbones high-set, his lips were thin, pale pink – oh my gosh, what would it be like to kiss those lips...focus, Bree, your mind might be spacious, but you still have to pay attention – and his chin ended in a cute little point.

The boy –he looked about 16, a year older than me, not really a boy, but still- finished rambling and looked at me for my verdict.

"Wow, I should be on the front lines now!" I joked, pulling myself out of the bottomless pit that was my daydreaming section of the brain. Riley made sure to drill it into us that the yellow-eyes were likely to come and get us at any moment. That's why we had to move out first.

"I'll be sure to suggest it to Riley," the boy joked. I pretended to look horrified at the idea, and then burst out laughing. I wasn't sure why I was laughing, but when he joined in, I stopped wondering. It felt nice, laughing with the strange, beautiful boy. We laughed so hard we had to sit down, and the laughing session continued for what felt like hours, but could have been just seconds. It was quite a while before our laughter subsided.

"Why were we laughing?" the boy asked me, after the last of our giggles had subsided. Before I even had time to shrug, another voice answered.

"That is a very good question," Riley looked down at our slumped positions with disdain. He had a rather long nose, I now noted. This new knowledge made me want to laugh again, but I held it in, purposely not looking at the boy.

"Come. It's time for your training session," Riley motioned for me to follow him. I stood up and brushed the dirt off my jeans. I held out a hand for the boy, and helped him up; though I was sure he didn't really need it.

"See you around?" I asked him. He nodded, and aimlessly wandered into the house.

"I don't have all day, newborn," Riley called. I sighed and followed. Then I suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline. I was going to learn how to fight.

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	6. Without a Trace

I circled Riley, involuntarily growling softly. I feinted to the left, and quickly spun right, too fast for him to comprehend, locking my hands around his wrists, pulling his arms back behind him and knocking him to the ground. I leaned down and put my face next to his ear.

"Beat ya again," I hissed, releasing his arms. We had been at it for the whole afternoon, and he was obviously mad that I kept beating him. He kept trying to convince me that the only way to do it was to go for the obvious kill, and try to wrap my arms around him. While I had to admit, I could squeeze someone to death, the strange vampires weren't stupid, were they? Riley obviously didn't acknowledge that fact.

"Let's take a break," he said, annoyed beyond words. I snickered inwardly and sat beneath a nearby tree.

"I don't see why I have to learn this fighting crap anyways," I commented, flicking a piece of grass idly, only to have it be uprooted and fly 50 feet away. "It's not like I couldn't just stand there and make them spin and light on fire," Riley's head snapped up so fast I thought it was going to do the same thing as the piece of grass.

"What?!" he roared, jumping to his feet. "What are you talking about?"

"This," I said simply. I had been thinking about the logistics of my power since I had discovered it, and I thought I knew how to call it up. I concentrated on a leaf and emptied my mind of all thought. It was only the leaf. The leaf spun, and burst into flame. I grinned and blinked to put out the blaze before it grew out of hand. Riley stared in shock at the little pile of ashes.

"Creator will have to be informed of this," he mumbled to himself. Then louder, "Are you sure you'll be able to do that on a person or vampire?"

"Fairly sure," I hesitantly replied.

"We'll have to test that," he said, half to himself. Test that? How were we going to do that? Riley abruptly turned on his heels and stalked off, his voice drifting over his shoulder. "I'm going to visit the Creator. Expect me back at sunset." I watched him go, amused by his reaction to my power.

~*~

"Did I not tell you her power would be great? This will be a great asset in our defences," a shrill, feminine voice reprimanded the newborn.

"Yes, Creator," the newborn's voice shook, "you did tell me. Now, I was wondering if..."

"If you could borrow some test subjects? I believe only one is necessary, and we'll work up to it, yes? Bigger objects, humans, and then..." The voice trailed off suggestively.

"Yes, Creator," the newborn agreed earnestly.

"Now, now. You really don't have to call me that here in private. You know I love you, there's no need for lordship when there's love," the voice whispered.

~*~

The next three days went by slowly, each more boring than the last. Every day was training with Riley, where I made larger and larger objects spin and burst into flame with my mind. Every night was spent being ignored by most of the other newborns, other than Sara, and murdering helpless little humans to satisfy my thirst for blood.

I found myself wishing I could go to school again, and dance classes, and then go home to an empty house, and possibly make myself food instead of ordering take-out that isn't delivery. I'd even like the luxury of sleeping. But the thing I lusted for the most was another glimpse at the boy who had first seen me perform my power. He was so bloody gorgeous, and then he was so smart too. I wondered where he had gone. It seemed as if I should have at least caught a glimpse of him somewhere around the "house" they had us shoved in, or around the city when I was hunting. But he was a no-show, gone, without a trace.

**Hi! So, Bree had a lil party with Riley, and then Riley went stalking off, and then there was a weird two-person convo between "shrill voice" and "newborn" and then Bree discussed further life.  
That's what you call a summary :D Now, please click the green button and review away! It's quite fun if you throw yourself into it. Just think of random things, then write them! It'll make me happy...**


	7. Free

**Prepare yourselves, this is rather angsty. Or it was supposed to come across that way...**

It was cold outside, or it would be if I wasn't already icy cold from being undead. The street in front of our "house" had no streetlamps, so it was pitch black as I stared out into the distance. I flipped my short hair out of my eyes again and continue to stare at the black. _If I stare hard enough out there, will something set on fire, even though I can't actually see it? _I mused about this, effectively making myself even more depressed. How mean would it be if a human was innocently walking by and I set them on fire by accident? I knew I could do it, because just half an hour ago—_had it really been so recent?_—Riley had come and taken me with him to some other really dark warehouse and told me to do it to a human.

~*~

"Do it _now_," Riley cursed at me. "This isn't supposed to take all night!" I trembled. The teenager stared at me, obviously thinking I was hot, but also terrified. His clothes were pretty much destroyed, and he was shivering, still staring at me.

"Why don't you warm up our guest?" Riley asked pointedly, looking at me. I groaned internally and focused on the poor boy standing in the middle of the room, bleeding and scared. I concentrated hard like I knew I had to, and the boy began to spin. His eyes widened and he looked at me in fright. I felt like a monster. I _was_ a monster. I felt a curious fright building up inside me. It was like I could feel what the boy was feeling. I continued to concentrate anyways, and as he spun to face me again, I slowly mouthed, _I'm sorry._ At that very moment he burst into flame and fell onto the floor. I dared not blink, fearful of leaving him half burned on the floor. Better to just get it done. After what felt like forever, I heard Riley laugh, startling me out of concentration. I blinked.

"Good job," Riley crowed, leading me back out of the building. I didn't reply. I was too busy considering what I had just done. It was so scary; I could never do that again. I hoped they weren't going to make me. I wouldn't be able to, I knew it. And then what would they do with me? They depended on me for this.

~*~

I shuddered as I remembered what had transpired in that warehouse.

My unbeating heart felt for the boy. He hadn't deserved to die in that way. I was cruel and unjust. I didn't deserve to live at all when I had killed someone so innocent in such a harsh way. It was strange that I felt this way, considering I had killed countless others on the street to satisfy my bloodlust. But the boy was different, and I didn't know why.

"Wallowing, are we?" I jumped up from my spot on the porch and spun to face gorgeous boy. He chuckled softly. "We keep meeting like this," he commented. I nodded, relaxing. I sat back down and he sat next to me.

"H-he made me...he made me do it to a hu-human," I choked out, barely able to speak through the emotion I was feeling.

"Your power?" he asked rhetorically. "And that disagreed with you because..."

"I c-could feel what that boy was feeling. All that fright. I was so scared. I-I mean he was. I don't know, I'm so c-confused!" I mumbled at the concrete under my feet. Gorgeous boy nodded his thoughtful nod, and that alone almost made me smile again. Or maybe it was the feeling of him next to me.

"Well, let's go get you distracted. How about it?" he asked cheerfully, standing up and holding his hand out to me. I immediately missed him next to me, so I grabbed his hand and yanked myself up.

"How are we getting distracted?" I wondered out loud, as I, for some unknown reason, wrapped my arm around his waist like we had been going out for years.

"Clubbing," he replied as he ushered me into the taxi, and quickly slid in after me.

~*~

"It was amazing!" the newborn crowed, "She did it no problem!"

"Good. We'll have her do it to that short, blonde one tomorrow night," the shrill voice pierced the air. The newborn grinned and nodded at his master.

~*~

"How are we going to handle being around so many humans?" I asked gorgeous boy quietly, so that the taxi driver couldn't hear me.

"I have my ways," he said in return, just as quietly. I mused over it. That made no sense at all, but oh well. After another minute the taxi rolled up in front of a club, where music could be heard pouring out onto the street. Oddly enough, it was playing a screamo song that said "Bree Bree" every two seconds. I giggled inwardly. I slid out, observing the humans. I'd been to a club once in my human life, illegally of course, with my friends.

Gorgeous boy grabbed my hand and pulled me to the front of the line, where the bouncer let us in without a question. I grinned and slipped in among the humans. The smell wasn't even near as overpowering as I had thought it would be.

In no time I was on the dance floor with gorgeous boy, my body against his, moving to the beat. In an even shorter time, it seemed, my lips were against his. It didn't matter that I didn't know his name, and I was pretty sure he didn't know mine. We were here in this moment as one unnamed being. Being here was all that mattered, and as I melted into gorgeous boy, all my fear from earlier that night evaporated and I felt free.

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	8. Surrender

I danced more wildly than I had the night before, for this time I had been forced into a sin far worse than before. To inflict that pain on one the same as me had been pure torture.

~*~

He stood completely still in front of me. I looked at him regretfully, glancing meaningfully at Riley. He still didn't move, his blonde hair falling in his eyes. He was beautiful, like all of them. I wanted to cry. This just wasn't fair!!

"Now! If I have to tell you one more time..." Riley's voice pierced through the air. I cringed and concentrated. It was over fast, with the same stupid spinning and flames, though this time they burned purple. I felt the pain of the blonde newborn and I wanted to scream with him, but I bit my lip and turned from the godforsaken warehouse.

~*~

We were heading out that day to the gold-eyes' territory. We set out as soon as it was dark and I ignored the fighting going on around me. There were fights daily in the house, and the impending battle was fuelling everyone's bad side.

We picked up on the scent of the coven not far from Seattle and began to follow it.

Just as we were passing Port Angeles I heard a scuffle coming from the other side of the group. I had been chatting with Sara about our human lives, but she had left some minutes earlier to see how close we were. I looked around to see that Sara was in a fight. I couldn't see who it was with, but they seemed pretty deep into it.

I moved across the group to see if I could get a glimpse of the person Sara was fighting with. When I did, I almost went into shock.

It was gorgeous boy. And he was losing.

As I watched, Sara leaped onto gorgeous boy again, ripping off his head. I gasped and started to hyperventilate, though I didn't need the air.

The love of my life—my _lives_—was being murdered before my eyes, and I didn't even know his name.

Why hadn't I asked him what it was?

~*~

When we picked up the human's smell Riley had given me that first day—oh, it seemed so long ago now—everybody got excited, except me. I was too deep in depression to feel anything.

We reached a clearing and decided to use a typical war plan—split into two groups and hit them from either side. I followed one of the groups; noticing that Riley was no longer there. I wondered idly where he had gone, but abandoned caring when the strange vampires came into view.

We all tensed up, and suddenly everybody was moving in blurs around me. I hung back slightly, watching the fight. I knew I should use my power to help, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I heard Sara yell at me to do it, but I ignored her. I wasn't going to do anything that murderer told me to.

A tall, blonde man looked up from a newborn he had just ripped to pieces and spotted me lurking behind a tree. He lunged and I held my hands up, blocking his attack. I made no attempt to kill him; I just stared apathetically and blocked his attacks.

Without warning, he stopped trying to kill me and stood back, looking at me. I lowered my hands and continued to stare at him.

"All your allies are dead," the man said. I kept staring. _'I don't care. It only matters about him.'_ "Do you want to surrender?"

I considered this. Why was he even offering? Shouldn't he just be ripping me to pieces? I nodded at him and he grabbed my arm, leading me farther into the clearing. There was a large fire burning in the center, purple smoke billowing from the top. The strange-eyes were throwing pieces of vampire in, and I thought I saw Sara's head disappear in the flames.

_'Good riddance.'_ I sunk to the ground, wrapping my arms around my knees. The blonde man kneeled in front of me.

"In your surrender, you promise to never harm a human again. You will instead take our way of life," he informed me. I nodded, pondering his words. What was their way of life? I thought they were just like us. What other way is there for a vampire to live?

There was a shriek from across the clearing, and the man stood up. I glanced in the direction of the scream, but all I saw was trees.

"Stay there," the man warned me, running in that direction.

There was a gasp from the other side of me, and I turned to see a short, black haired strange-eyed vampire. Another blonde man rushed to her side.

"What did you see?" he asked her.

"The Volturi... they're coming," she replied at a whisper.


	9. To Live or To Die

**Disclaimer: I don't own pretty much any of the dialogue in this chapter. Because Stephenie Meyer wrote it. Ya.**

I continued to huddle by the fire, unperturbed by the commotion going on around me. I continued to wallow in my depression. Whoever the Volturi were, the strange-eyes were definitely afraid of them.

I watched from between my legs as people began to gather in the clearing. Soon there were six, and just as the blonde that had asked me if I wanted to surrender came into the clearing from one direction, another vampire with bronze colored hair ran in from the other direction carrying something. I peered at him curiously.

All of a sudden, the scent of the thing hit me. It was a _human_. More specifically, the human that we were following the scent of. I dug my fingers into the ground to keep from running over and sucking her dry. I had promised that I wouldn't.

The Hollywood blonde that had been talking to the pixie girl came out of nowhere to hover over me. He rubbed absently at his arm, where I noticed a bite mark before turning my eyes back to the girl.

She was unconscious. I imagined how easy it would be to run over there and grab her... then I remembered the numerous vampires guarding her and thought better of it. I wrapped my arms back around my legs and tried not to inhale. My throat burned.

I could see her regaining consciousness and talking to those around her. I couldn't stand it anymore and I screamed. Hollywood growled at me and I cringed away from him, digging my fingers into the dirt again. Hollywood stepped closer to me, slipping farther into a defensive position.

The other blonde was there in an instant, his hand laid on Hollywood's arm.

"Have you changed your mind, young one?" he asked calmly. "We don't want to destroy you, but we will if you can't control yourself." Huh. Maybe they should destroy me and put me out of this torture. It was hard enough to deal with _his_ death.

"How can you stand it?" I whimpered. "I _want_ her." I stared past the blonde at the human girl who was now more hidden behind the bronze haired one, digging my nails even farther into the dirt.

"You must stand it. You must exercise control," he said seriously. I almost groaned. What did he think I was doing? "It is possible, and it is the only thing that will save you now."

I wrapped my filthy hands around my head, moaning quietly.

"Shouldn't we move away from her?" I heard the girl whisper. I pulled my lips back over my teeth.

"We have to stay here," the bronze haired man murmured in response. "_They_ are coming to the north end of the clearing now."

_They_? Who were they? Oh... the Volturi people.

I continued to watch the girl, holding on to my head in an effort to stay away. I wasn't breathing anymore, but I could remember how she smelt.

She turned her gaze towards me and our eyes met. We stared at each other for a few moments; until Hollywood and others started to back up. They gathered around the girl so that I could no longer see her, guarding her from the people approaching from the other side of the clearing.

"Hmm," someone murmured from the center of the mist.

"Welcome, Jane," Bronze Man said coolly. The mist moved forward, solidifying into shapes of people shrouded in cloaks. The small girl in the very front—Jane, I supposed—began to scan the clearing and I burrowed my head into my hands.

"I don't understand." I heard Jane say tonelessly. She must have noticed me here then.

"She has surrendered," Bronze Haired Man's voice answered.

"Surrendered?"

"Carlisle gave her the option." Carlisle. So that was the blonde one's name. Nice to know. I had never known _his_ name. Why should I know Carlisle's?

"There are no options for those that break the rules," Jane said. I frowned into my knees. But Riley... whatever. Riley was wrong about a lot of things. He hadn't even helped us battle them, not that I had been battling.

"That's in your hands. As long as she was willing to halt her attack on us, I saw no need to destroy her. She was never taught," Carlisle's voice rang out smoothly. I disagreed some. I hadn't been attacking at all and I had been taught. Well, I guess I hadn't been taught their way of life. I still didn't know exactly what that was.

"That is irrelevant," Jane insisted. It wasn't irrelevant! _She_ was irrelevant!

"As you wish."

I tuned out their calm conversation and focused instead on being able to breathe again. I had no idea why I couldn't control myself around the human girl. I had been fine when I was with _him _around the humans. Maybe... maybe he had a power to control vampire cravings. Well, it sure would be nice to have that right now.

"You there," I heard Jane snap. "Your name."

I glared out at her, pressing my lips together. She didn't deserve to know my name. She said I was irrelevant!

She smiled at me and suddenly there was pain everywhere. I screamed and writhed on the ground, unable to bear it. I willed it stop, but it just seemed to get worse and worse.

After what seemed like forever, the pain stopped and I heard that voice again.

"Your name."

"Bree," I gasped out. Jane smiled and the agony ripped through me again. Why was she doing this? I'd tell her it all anyways, it didn't matter, really, it didn't!

The pain stopped and I heard Bronze Haired Man's voice.

"She'll tell you anything you want to know. You don't have to do that." I didn't know how he knew that, but it was so true, so true. I didn't want any more pain.

"Oh, I know," Jane replied before turning back to me. "Bree, is his story true? Were there twenty of you?"

I breathed heavily, my face pressed into the dirt. Was there twenty? I though there had been until he...

"Nineteen or twenty, maybe more, I don't know!" I flinched, hoping my ignorance wouldn't bring another bout of torture. "Sara and the one whose name I don't know got in a fight on the way..." Yes, a fight... him. Dead.

"And this Victoria—did she create you?"

"I don't know," I said, flinching again. "Riley never said her name. I didn't see that night... it was so dark, and it hurt..." I huddled farther into the ground. "He didn't want us to be able to think of her. He said our thoughts weren't safe..."

I noticed Jane's eyes flick over to Bronze Haired Man before returning to me. Did the thoughts have something to with him?

"Tell me about Riley. Why did he bring you here?" Jane asked.

"Riley told us that we had to destroy the strange yellow-eyes here. He said it would be easy. He said that the city was theirs, and they were coming to get us. He said once they were gone, all the blood would be ours. He gave us her scent." I pointed at the girl. "He said we would know that we had the right coven, because she would be with them. He said whoever got to her first could have her."

"It looks like Riley was wrong about the easy part." I nodded, pushing myself up to sitting position.

"I don't know what happened. We split up, but the others never came. And Riley went off somewhere... And then everybody disappeared. I didn't want to fight. That one" –I looked at Carlisle—"said I could surrender. So I did."

"Ah, but that wasn't his gift to offer, young one," Jane said quietly. "Broken rules demand a consequence."

I stared blankly at her. What kind of consequences was she talking about? Were they going to destroy me anyways? I didn't have much to live for without _him_, but heck, I didn't have much to live for before _him_ either. Just reality TV and Thai food. And look where the Thai food got me. Seriously.

I could hear them conversing, but I was too lost in thought to listen. The mention of 'young one' brought me back to the present.

"...to the young one. She doesn't seem unwilling to learn. She didn't know what she was doing." It was Bronze Haired Man.

"Of course," Carlisle added. "We would certainly be prepared to take responsibility for Bree." _'Aw, thanks, guys. Too bad she doesn't seem to be listening...'_

"We don't make exceptions and we don't give second chances. It's bad for our reputation. Which reminds me..." Suddenly she was looking at the human girl. "Caius will be _so_ interested to hear that you're still human, Bella. Perhaps he'll decide to visit."

So the human girl's name was Bella. Interesting bit of information. _'Back to planning, back to planning...'_

"The date is set," the little pixie girl spoke. "Perhaps we'll come visit you in a few months."

"It was nice to meet you, Carlisle—I'd thought Aro was exaggerating. Well, until we meet again..."

Carlisle nodded regretfully. Was he sad that he couldn't save me? I was sure I could save myself. After all, I was supposed to be on the front lines. With that, the plan that had been eluding me jumped into my head.

"Take care of that, Felix," Jane said, nodding towards me. I tensed up, getting to my feet. "I want to go home."

"Don't watch," I heard Bronze Man whisper in Bella's ear. Oh, she could watch. This 'Felix' wasn't going to be ripping me limb from limb. Then again, watching the huge vampire spin and burn wouldn't be too great an experience either.

Felix began to advance toward me as I centered my gaze on him and concentrated. I stepped back every time he stepped towards me, my eyes never breaking their path. I could see him start to get frustrated and consider just running out and grabbing me, so I concentrated harder. Thankfully, he began to spin.

I stopped moving backwards and focused all my energy on making him spin on the spot. I was starting to feel his panic, but I blocked it out. This was pure self-defence. If I didn't kill him then he would kill me for sure.

He spun faster and faster. He was spinning for much longer than any of the others had. Maybe it had to do with size. Finally he burst into purple flames and toppled over into the fire that was already there. I blinked out of habit, looking up at everyone.

Everyone in the clearing was staring at the place where Felix had disappeared into the fire. Slowly, their gazes turned one by one to me. I swallowed nervously.

"How did you do that?"

**A/N: Hopefully you all don't miss Felix. Hope you're happy JustYourAverageCrazyGirl! One of the Volturi died!  
And thanks to Pyro, cause she's cool. (She's responsible for the rest of the story having a plot. And Bree not being dead. :D)  
Um... there may have been more, but I don't remember.**

**REEEEVVVIEEEW!!! Cookies for all (maybe even Imaginary Bronze Haired Man!)**


	10. The Cullens

"How did you do that?" I swivelled in the direction of the voice. It was the Bronze Haired Man. I blinked a couple more times before answering with a shrug.

"It's my power," I said simply. _'Obviously.'_ How much more dull could you get? _He_ had figured it out in like three seconds.

The people in the clearing continued to gape at me. Jane turned her gaze to the fire, which was burning a brighter purple than before, then turned back to me, looking interested.

"But _how_?" Jane asked, staring coldly at me. I shrugged again.

"I don't know. I just concentrate, and that's what happens." Jane nodded slowly, frowning. She turned to the strange-eyes.

"Aro will need to be informed of this new development. For now, it seems you get your wish. Keep the young one out of trouble." Jane turned and swept into the mist, followed closely by the rest of the Volturi.

I stared after them for a moment before turning to the strange-eyes. It had been quite easy to dissuade the Volturi from killing me after they saw my power. Easier than I had thought it would be, at least. Every set of eyes was on me, including the human girl's brown ones. I tensed again as I thought of her smell, but then calmed down as I switched to thoughts of _him_.

Even so, Hollywood noticed my tension and was standing in front of me in a flash. I suppressed an urge to groan. I saw Bronze Haired Man shake his head slightly at Hollywood.

"Jasper, it's fine. She won't hurt Bella," Bronze Haired Man disentangled himself from Bella and walked towards me. I watched him hold out his hand. "I'm Edward Cullen, and this is my family."

I grasped his hand for a moment, then let go. I scanned the group. He gestured to each one, naming them.

"There's Jasper, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, Carlisle, Esme, and Bella." I nodded.

"I'm Bree, like I said before," I said politely. He nodded knowingly.

"Well, I think we better head back to the house, if that sounds all right to you. You do want to stay with us, right?" Edward asked.

"Um, didn't she sort of... order you to watch me?" I looked at them quizzically, noticing a look of slight disbelief on Bella's face as well.

"We can watch you without you staying at our house, Bree," Carlisle said gently. I froze. But where would I go if they didn't take me? I had no way back to the house in Seattle and weren't they going to teach me their way of life or something? Edward shot a glare at Carlisle.

"You can stay with us, Bree. It's fine." I nodded, relieved. He turned and wrapped his arm around Bella's waist, whispering in her ear. _"Come on. You have to come home with us to keep up the sleepover charade."_

The rest of the Cullens followed Edward and Bella out of the clearing, running at vampire speed—Bella was piggybacking on Edward, hiding her face in between his shoulder blades. Consequently, her smell was drifting back on the wind to me and I was concentrating heavily on pictures of _him _dying in my head to distract myself. It brought an onslaught of depression on me, but it was better than betraying the Cullens and attacking Bella.

Jasper kept stealing glances at me curiously, but I ignored him. What was so interesting about me that he had to keep _looking_?

***

"Welcome to our home," Esme said, opening the door to the big, white house. I stared around, entranced. It was much nicer than the so-called "house" us newborns had lived in. Light poured in from the windows and as we walked into the living area, I suppressed a gasp. There was a giant oak table on one side of the room, followed by a row of computers that sectioned off a comfy looking area with couches and best of all, a huge flat-screen TV. I could see the entrance to the kitchen on the other side of the table from the computers.

"Wow," I breathed. "But why is there a kitchen? And a table? Aren't those kind of useless?" Esme laughed. I wondered where everyone else had gone off to.

"We have to keep up appearances, dear. Plus, we sometimes cook for Bella." I nodded thoughtfully. So humans other than Bella came to their house, and not as food, either. Food... that reminded me, I really was thirsty.

"Um, Esme..." I trailed off, not sure how to say it.

"Yes, dear?" she asked, and then widened her eyes. Those strange, golden eyes. How did they get those anyways? "Oh! You must be terribly thirsty. Especially from being around Bella. Oh dear. I'll get Emmett and Jasper to go hunting with you, sound good? Maybe Rosalie too?" I nodded as she spoke, and she disappeared from the room.

I sat down in one of the dining room table chairs, only to have Emmett appear in front of me and grab my arm, pulling me up again. I groaned.

"What? Don't you want to come hunting?" Emmett teased.

"Of course I do. But what are we hunting, anyways?" I wondered aloud as he towed me along, Rosalie and Jasper following behind. Esme was nowhere in sight.

"Animals. It's not as good as humans, I suppose, but it does the job," Emmett replied cheerfully. I pulled my arm away from him, considering this. I had to admit, it was a lot nicer to kill things I would eat in my human life anyways, rather than humans themselves. I had always felt like a monster, ever since I looked in that mirror.

We were about to enter the forest when all of a sudden the top floor window opened and Alice leaned out.

"Hey you guys! Keep to the northern ridge or you'll meet some humans!" she warned before closing the window abruptly, sending a waft of strawberries and freesias down to us. How did she know where humans would be?

"Thanks, Alice!" Jasper called, knowing that she could hear through the window. He turned to study me, and then looked away, satisfied.

"Alice has got Bella over, trying in vain to get her to like makeovers," Rosalie snickered quietly.

"She doesn't like make-up?" I asked as we resumed our course into the forest. Rosalie shook her head.

"She doesn't like shopping, either. Alice, however, loves shopping with all her heart. I really don't know how they get along," Rosalie joked. I smiled.

Jasper and Emmett froze and Jasper laid a hand on my arm. Rosalie stopped moving and sniffed the air.

"Smell that?" she whispered. I inhaled deeply. There were many scents: all the different types of trees, the dirt, Rosalie's coconut shampoo... and then the sharp smell of blood, not as appetizing as a human's, but still appealing, especially as thirsty as I was.

"Yes," I hissed quietly, inching towards the source. The three Cullens hung back, watching me. I crept stealthily through the trees, finally coming within sight of the deer that were grazing by a stream. I planned my attack strategically.

I launched myself into a tree, directly over top of the largest deer. All the deer started at the smell of me and began to run so I dropped on top of the buck, digging my teeth into the pulse point on its neck.

When I was finished I stepped back and wiped a bit of blood off the corner of my mouth, licking it off the tip of my finger. The Cullens ran down to meet me and Rosalie scanned my clothes.

"Whoa, for a newborn you sure are clean," she commented. I shrugged.

"Yeah, the others said something about it taking centuries to get like this," I gestured to myself. They laughed, and Rosalie draped her arm over my shoulder as we continued along the stream.

"Yeah, about that long. Are you still thirsty?" she asked. I considered, and then shook my head.

"Not really. I'm used to going a while without anything," I explained. Jasper looked skeptical, but before he could protest, a cell phone began to ring. It was Jasper's.

"Hello?"

_"Hey, Jazz. You guys should come home, Bree is fine. I've got a great idea!" _Alice bubbled from the other end. I smiled triumphantly, still not sure how Alice knew all these things. Jasper sighed into the phone.

"Okay, Alice. We'll be right there, don't blow your top," he chided her.

_"It's just such a good idea and I know Bree will love it! Oops, she's listening, isn't she... better go!"_ There was a click as Alice hung up the phone. Jasper snapped his cell shut and shoved it in his pocket.

"Come on, guys, Alice will kill us if we don't get there in at least two minutes," Emmett said, taking off in a blur. I took off after him, Rosalie beside me and Jasper on our heels.

_'I wonder what Alice has planned...'_

***

**Ooer, slight cliffie. But it was a cool chapter, Bree went home with the Cullens, then hunting, and she made friends with Rosalie... oh, yes, a great chapter, if I do say so myself. The rest of the story should be exciting, and you know, not too depressing. Oh, wait. It will be sort of depressing.... :(**

**Ah-kay guys, REVIEW. Tell me what you think... :D**


	11. Alice's Surprise

"Hey, Bree! I didn't really properly introduce myself before. I'm Alice," Alice bounced happily over to me and gave me a hug. I hesitantly hugged her back, and she pulled away smiling. "C'mon, I've got to show you something!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the house, but instead of turning at the stairs, she dragged me up them.

"Where are we going?" I asked. Her smile grew even wider and she shook her head. At the top of the stairs she turned left and started to point out doors.

"This is a bathroom, there's mine and Jasper's room, and that's Jasper's study. Down the other end of the hall is Edward's room." Edward stuck his head out of the room as if on cue.

"Someone call me?" he asked. Alice giggled and shook her head.

"Nope, just giving Bree a tour," she said. Edward studied her face and then nodded, smiling almost a mirror image of Alice's smile.

"I see," he said, retreating into his room. I frowned and followed Alice up another set of stairs.

"Why do I feel like you're hiding something from me?" I complained. Alice laughed again.

"It's nothing bad, Bree, don't worry. Now, this is Rosalie and Emmett's floor. There's a guest bedroom up here too." I looked around the floor. It seemed to be the very top one. Did Carlisle and Esme have a room? I asked Alice as much.

"Oh, yes, they do. It's on the ground floor, as well as Carlisle's study," she nodded, looking at me intently. It was just starting to creep me out when Emmett and Rosalie arrived.

"Yo! Whatcha doin' on our floor?" Emmett pounded up the stairs, Rosalie following primly behind.

"Alice was showing me the house," I told him.

"Did she give you a room yet? I'll bet she's exploding with excitement just thinking about decorating it," Rosalie joked, leaning against the stairway banister.

"Rosalie! I wanted her to figure it out herself!" Alice complained. I froze on the spot. My own room? But the only spare room Alice had mentioned was the one on this floor, and it seemed like Rosalie and Emmett preferred to have it to themselves.

"My own room?" I said quietly. Alice nodded excitedly, obviously over her displeasure in Rosalie, and dragged me to the corner of the open hallway. I frowned. What was she doing? She looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully, then at the wall.

All of a sudden, she jumped up on the wall, jabbing a foot into it and grabbing onto a metal part of the roof. She shoved up a ceiling tile, flipping it so it was inside the roof, and then, grabbing hold of something else with both her hands, she dropped back to the ground.

"What the hell was that?" I asked her, staring pointedly at the thing she was holding in her hands. She shrugged.

"I didn't know how else I was going to get the ladder down," she said, placing it against the wall. There was a chuckle from behind us, and I turned to see Emmett laughing and experimentally jumping a bit off the ground to touch the roof.

"I could have got it for you, Alice," he said through his laughter. She turned to scowl at him, and then looked back at me.

"I got it fine," she mumbled. Then louder: "Up we go, come on, Bree." She started up the ladder at vampire speed, and when she reached the top I followed after her.

We were in a large open space, just a bit smaller than the hallway of Rosalie and Emmett's floor. It was surrounded on three sides by windows, and on the side without windows there was a door. I spun around in a circle, savouring the view.

"Wow," I breathed. Alice smiled happily and clapped her hands.

"It's pretty, isn't it? I knew you'd love it!" I nodded and danced over to the door. I opened it to see that the windows continued into the gigantic bathroom.

"This isn't anybody's room?" Alice shook her head. "Why not?"

"I don't know. But it's yours now. And we're going to have so much fun buying furniture for it!" I nodded and threw myself across the room and into Alice's arms.

"Thank you so much, Alice," I murmured into her shoulder before pulling away.

"Let's go back downstairs. I have a laptop and we can—"Alice's bubbling stopped short and her eyes glazed over.

"Alice? Alice? Alice!" I waved my hand in front of her face. What the heck had just happened? Thankfully, she snapped out of it and looked at me worriedly.

"Hold on, Bree. I'll explain in a second, I just need to tell Edward something," Alice ran over to the ladder and was down it and the stairway to Edward's floor in a flash. I followed behind her, utterly perplexed.

"Edward? Bella is on the road to La Push, you better go get her!" Alice called while banging on his door. The door flew open and I barely saw Edward fly past me and down the stairs.

"I know, Alice, I saw. Thank you!" I heard Edward say from outside and, peering out a window, I saw the blur of him running down the road. I turned back to Alice.

"What was _that_?" I asked. Alice sighed.

"You know your power?" I nodded. "Well, I have one too, except mine is visions of the future. Just now I saw Bella looking pretty depressed on the way back from La Push. She was waiting for Edward, I could tell," Alice explained, grabbing my hand and dragging me into what she had told me was her and Jasper's room.

"Does anyone else have a power?" I asked, unable to think of anything else to say. Alice nodded.

"Edward can read minds; he knows everything you're thinking, and Jasper is in tune with your feelings, and he can change them, for example, if you were very angry at someone, he could calm you down so that you wouldn't kill them," Alice led me over to a large door and opened it to reveal the biggest closet I had ever seen in my life.

"Wow, is that all?" I breathed, half commenting on the closet, half on what Alice had just said. Alice shrugged and started rifling through the clothes, picking out what seemed like random things. She shoved the clothes at me and pointed towards the hallway door.

"Go and shower and change. How long have you been wearing those clothes?" she ordered, pushing me into the bathroom across the hall.

"Since I was changed, I guess," I replied, not sure if the question had been rhetorical or not. I looked down at what I was wearing and cringed. The sweats and t-shirt that I was sure had been light gray before were now black with mud and god knows what else.

Alice shook her head and closed the bathroom door on me. I turned to look at the inside and was completely shocked, even though I knew nothing should be shocking me anymore. It was gigantic. The shower had _ten_ places for water to come out, and the side that wasn't taken up by the shower was full of mirrors and a perfectly smooth vanity. Plus the toilet, but I was pretty sure no one used that, considering we were vampires.

I fiddled with the taps on the shower for a bit, finally just turning them all on not caring what temperature they were. It wasn't like my vampire skin could really feel it. When I had the shower blasting I turned to look in the mirror.

I looked horrible. My black hair used to be silky and frame my face perfectly, but it was all twisted up with mud, and my face was smeared with the same. I couldn't believe I had been walking around like this all day. If I could blush, I would be doing so hardcore right now.

Studying my face further, a sudden thought popped into my mind. _'How had_ he _been attracted to this?'_ With that thought, I realized I hadn't thought of _him_ since before we went hunting, and it was getting dark outside now.

My mind flooded with images of his face and I sat down heavily, somehow ending up underneath the flow of water coming from part of the shower. My clothes and hair were slowly soaked through as I sat there unmoving.

How was it possible that I had forgotten _him_ for that long? It seemed like complete betrayal to me. I swore to myself that I'd never go that long without thinking of _him_ again.

I curled up in a ball and leaned against the side of the shower, attempting to block everything out, focusing on the memories I should have been thinking of all day. Against my will, voices filtered through the block I had put on my mind.

"I don't know, Alice. Those are pretty intense feelings of depression I'm getting," I heard Jasper say, his voice cracking.

"Should I go in there or something?" Alice asked, sounding worried.

"No, just leave it. Wait until Edward can tell us what she's thinking," Jasper decided. I clutched at my stomach and let out a whimper. They were just going to _leave_ me. They didn't care anymore than Riley had. I shouldn't have let myself think they did.

The door flew open with a crash and Alice came barrelling in, slamming the door behind her and dropping down next to me. She moved my hair out my face and started to comb her fingers through it.

"Bree, Bree, it's okay. I'm here, we're all here," she soothed me with her words and fingers untangling my hair. I let myself fall back into her arms, dry-sobbing. She wrapped her arms around me, still muttering comforting things.

"You'll be fine. We won't leave you," she hummed. I sobbed harder.

How did they know? It was likely those Volturi would come back and take me away or worse, kill one of the Cullens. They couldn't promise. But it was all I had, that false hope, and so I clung to it.

"You're getting your clothes wet," I mumbled when I had finally stopped crying, or whatever you would call what vampires do. Alice laughed.

"So are you," she pointed out.

I smiled. I wouldn't forget _him_, but I wouldn't let it ruin my new life either.

***

**Whoo. That was hard. *wipes away sweat*  
Hopefully that doesn't suck. I'm scared to read it over, so guess what!  
I'm not going to. **


	12. Bridesmaid

The next morning I stood cautiously behind Alice on the front steps of the house. We were waiting for Bella and Edward to arrive. I didn't see why she couldn't just wait by herself, but she had insisted that I needed to be there. She was really excited about something, I could tell that easily. I also knew it had something to do with the vision she had had when we were picking out furniture for my new bedroom.

I daydreamed about how my room would look with the blue and orange theme we had decided on. Alice had been adamant about blue because '_it would blend with the sky'_ and orange was my favourite colour. I was just trying to figure out Alice's logic with the blue sky thing, considering the sky was usually grey and cloudy here in Forks when the slam of a car door and Alice's high- pitched squeal broke me out of my daydream.

"Thank you, Bella!" she sang as Bella and Edward walked over to us. I steeled myself for Bella's scent, but surprisingly, it didn't bother too much. I was too interested in knowing what Alice was thanking Bella for.

"Hold it, Alice," Bella warned, lifting a finger to halt Alice's tirade. "I've got a few limitations for you."

"I know, I know, I know. I only have until August thirteenth at the latest, you have veto power on the guest list, and if I go overboard on anything, you'll never speak to me again." What were they _talking _about? "It'll be fine, Bella. Bree will help me, right Bree?" I frowned.

"Uh... help with what, exactly?" I asked. Alice giggled.

"Bella and Edward's wedding! Now come on you two, let's go see Bella's dress!" Alice was already at the door, leading us towards the stairs. I heard Bella suck in a breath hastily.

"When did you get me a dress, Alice?" Bella asked, obviously trying to be casual.

"Oh, well, you see, Bella, these things take time. And Perrine Bruyere has a waiting list, so I thought I'd get ahead. I mean, I wasn't sure things were going to turn out this way, but there was a distinct possibility..."

"Per- who?" Bella and I chorused, and then looked at each other conspiratorially.

"He's not a major designer, you two, so there's no need to throw a hissy fit."

"We're not throwing a fit," Bella objected. I smiled at her, and she hesitantly smiled back.

"No, you're not." Alice eyed Bella's face suspiciously before turning to Edward and commanding him to leave her room.

"Why?" Bella complained.

"He's not supposed to see the dress till the day of," Alice reasoned, pushing Edward out the door.

"It doesn't matter to me, Alice. If that's the way you want it..." Bella said, breathing in and out deeply in an attempt to calm herself.

Edward had his eyes focused on Bella, worried because... he was leaving her alone with me? He was leaving her alone at all? I made a mental note to get him to tell me later, and Alice shut the door in Edward's face.

Alice grabbed mine and Bella's wrists and dragged us into the very back corner of her closet, where a white garment bag hung on its own rack. She unzipped the bag and grabbed the dress out in one sweeping motion.

"Well?" she asked, focused mostly on Bella. Bella paused for a moment, tapping her foot. She was obviously playing with Alice. It was working too, I noted, as Alice's expression turned worried. Then Bella smiled.

"Perfect. Nineteen-eighteen?" I could see that the dress was meant to be old-fashioned, with vintage lace and old-style embroidery.

"More or less," Alice replied. "What do you think, Bree?" I surveyed the dress a second more before replying.

"It's beautiful. You'll look great in it, Bella," I complimented. Alice beamed and Bella's smile grew a bit.

"Some of it's my design. The train, the veil..." Alice babbled, brushing the satin of the dress. "Oh and Bree, don't think about the dress around him. Try really hard. Sing songs or something." I nodded.

"It's just right for him," Bella gushed.

"But is it just right for you?" Alice pressured.

"Yes, I think so. You and Bree are going to do a great job, I know it. As long as you don't go overboard, that is."

"Don't worry, Bella. I'll keep her in check," I joked. Alice beamed at Bella.

"So, can I see your dress?" Bella asked. Alice blinked, her face going blank. "What, you didn't order yourself a dress as well? I wouldn't want my maid of honour to wear something off the _rack_." Bella winced in mockery of her words. Alice's face lit up and she threw her arms around Bella's waist.

"Thank you, thank you!" she gushed. When Alice let go and went to hang up to dress again, Bella turned to me.

"You too, Bree. Alice may not have bought you a fancy dress, but you'll look gorgeous in anything, I'm sure." I stood stock still, barely comprehending the words.

"You mean... you want me to be a bridesmaid?" I asked. Bella nodded.

"That's not weird or anything, is it? I mean, I just thought since you're help- oof!" I cut Bella off when I threw myself at her, wrapping her up in the biggest hug I thought she could handle.

"Not to sound too much like Alice, but thank you, thank you so much! You have no idea how good it feels to be accepted." I released Bella, suddenly glad for once that I was a vampire and couldn't tear up.

Bella laughed good-naturedly.

"Well, Bree, you are part of the Cullen family now. Might as well show it!" I nodded.

"We've got so much to do! Go play with Edward, Bella. Bree, you're coming with me," Alice ordered. She grasped my hand tightly, and we sped out of the room, Alice yelling loudly for Esme.

***

**Here's another chapter for you! Hope you enjoyed, and please review! Oh, and some dialogue wasn't mine... but I mostly twisted it all up. I "Bree-ifed" it. :D Muahaha.**


	13. Falling Out of Windows

I tapped the keys of the laptop, updating Bella and Edward's wedding site, which had been my idea. It had all the information on it, such as where the wedding was, the invite list with a place to RSVP, a list of things Edward and Bella wanted for wedding presents, etcetera. It wasn't public yet, but I would make it so the moment the invitations Alice was working on at this very moment were mailed.

Glancing up from the screen, I watched Alice's eyes glaze over for a moment before she snapped out of it. I had been spending so much time planning the wedding with her that this no longer frightened me, and so I went back to musing over which colour scheme looked better with a certain font.

"Bree..." Alice said, her voice shaking. I hurriedly looked up at her.

"What? What did you see?" I frowned, the many possible situations running through my head. One stuck though, and I blurted it out. "Are the Volturi coming back?" Alice shook her head.

"No, they're still deliberating what the hell to do with you. No, I saw..." she trailed off, making my head explode with all the different possibilities.

"Come on, Alice, what was it? Am I about to throw myself out of my window again?" I joked around, though I was tense. My comment was a reference to two days ago, when I had been leaning out my window, breathing in the fresh air. Somehow I had managed to lean too far, and had ended up falling out of the window and landing on top of Emmett's Jeep, crashing right through the roof and into the passenger's seat. I hadn't been hurt, of course, but every time Emmett saw me he wouldn't let me out of his sight again without mentioning something about "asking for a ride if I wanted one" or "being suicidal and causing damage to innocent Jeeps".

Alice cracked a small smile and shook her head. "No, it's not _bad_, exactly, just strange." I stared at her insistently. If she didn't tell me soon, I was going to start making her spin around with all my staring. She sighed and started to explain. _Finally._

"Sometime tonight, during sunset, I believe, a vampire is going to show up here. And then, I sort of saw..." Alice squirmed visibly in her chair, and I rolled my eyes.

"Are they going to rip me to shreds and feed me to the Volturi? Just _tell _me, Alice."

"Well, sorry if I'm a bit disturbed by watching you and some newborn make out in a tree," she blurted. I stared at her for a moment, and then burst into laughter.

"Seriously? I don't _think_ so," I said through my laughter. I couldn't help it, this may be a serious subject, but the idea of me being able to stand kissing anyone other than _him_ was just... _laughable._

Alice shrugged and went back to writing out invitations in her perfect script. "That's what I saw."

------

"Buh-reeeeEEE!!" Alice crowed from the living room where she was taking a rare break from wedding plans. "I need you to do me a favour!"

I sighed and hopped down from my favourite window seat perch in the kitchen to see what she wanted. Maybe I was mistaken, and she actually had been thinking about the wedding the entire time and now I was going to have to completely revise something because of a teeny little change she just HAD to make. It had happened before.

"What, Alice?" I asked, leaning against back of the couch and looking at the TV, where a movie—about weddings, of course—was playing.

"Bella's truck finally broke down when she was on her way here. Can you go get her?" She gestured at the TV as an indication that she wanted to finish watching her movie. I nodded and started towards the door before realizing something.

"Uh... Alice?"

"Hm?"

"I don't have a license to drive." Alice turned around to look at me incredulously.

"How old are you?"

"Um... 15. I had a learners, but I never got a license." Alice's face relaxed and she turned back to the TV.

"You'll be fine. It's not like you don't know how. By the way, take the Volvo." I could tell Alice was smirking at the thought of me crashing Edward's baby. I smirked slightly as well, turning to go to the garage and smacking straight into Emmett.

"Hey, lil' newborn, watch where you're going. Don't wanna fall out anymore windows!" I frowned. I was really getting sick of his jokes. I brushed past him and when I passed Rosalie who had been walking behind him, she leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"Ignore him. Really, Bree. He thinks he's harmless and he's right for once." I smiled at her in thanks. I passed the foot of the stairs and went into the other side of the house. I passed the doors to Carlisle's study and his and Esme's room before reaching the one I wanted.

I opened the door and grabbed a key off the key rack, clicking the button to see what car the key belonged to. _Mercedes._ I put it back and picked up another one, repeating the process. _Porsche, Aston Martin, Jeep, BMW... of course I'd pick the right one last._ I snickered to myself when I realized just how hilarious my inner monologue of high-end cars had been.

Sliding into Edward's Volvo, I smacked the garage door opener on his dashboard and carefully reversed out of the garage. The steering wheel felt odd in my hands, my last attempt at driving had been when I first got my learners, back when my father was alive and we still lived in a tiny Canadian town. I managed to turn the car around properly and then hit the brakes. I sat back and studied the controls for a moment. _Wow, this is definitely an upgrade from whatever ancient Ford thing I used to drive._

I had no idea what half the buttons did, and I gave up trying, deciding to just wing it. After all, if I took too long Bella might start walking, which wouldn't be much fun for her.

I hit the gas pedal, one of the only things I knew how to control, and sped down the driveway. I started to panic a little; was the car supposed to go this fast? I applied the brake and checked the odometer. I was going 30 miles per hour. It seemed like a good pace to me, so I kept at it, finally arriving at Bella's truck, which indeed sat unmoving on the side of the road. Bella hopped out while I pulled to a stop in front of her truck.

"Hey, Bree!" she called from where she was standing. I waved and motioned for her to come and get in. I suddenly felt like I was being watched and I looked around, confused.

Bella opened the passenger door and slid into the seat. I smiled at her and asked: "How'd you know it was me?"

She laughed and replied that was driving too slowly for it to be anyone else. I frowned.

"Why, how fast do the others drive?" I asked, making a slow U-turn. She laughed some more before answering.

"Oh, at least over 100 miles per hour. Edward thinks _eighty_ is slow," she giggled. I laughed slightly, looking at the odometer nervously. It read 30 mph again.

"Do you want to go faster? It's just that I don't really know how to drive," I explained. Bella stopped laughing and looked at me.

"Really? I thought you were at least sixteen..." she trailed off thoughtfully. I shook my head, and then re-thought my answer.

"Actually, I am. Or I would be if it was possible. My birthday was two days ago," I said incredulously. I couldn't believe I'd forgotten. My sweet sixteen... what had I been doing? I thought hard about it, unconsciously pressing down on the gas pedal, and then realized that two days ago had been the day I fell out of the window. I laughed out loud and Bella gave me a look.

"What's so funny?" she asked. I just laughed harder, shaking my head. I glanced at her, then at the dashboard of the Volvo.

"HOLY SHIT!" I yelled, slamming on the brakes. I had escalated to 105 miles per hour without realizing it. Now Bella was laughing at me.

"Wow, Bree. And I thought you were learning how to drive like a Cullen," she said through her laughter. I scowled at her and turned into the driveway. It had taken much less time to drive back, for obvious reasons.

"You better not tell Alice you had a birthday. She might flip and want to throw a party for you," Bella warned me. I shuddered at the thought of a birthday party planned by Alice in the middle of her wedding preparations. _Uh-uh. Not going there._

I pulled into the garage with ease—this driving thing really was simple once you got the hang of it. Bella sat still in the seat with her head cocked, looking at me.

"What?" I asked, feeling self-conscious. I had a creepy 'being-watched' kind of feeling creeping over my skin.

Bella shook her head and got out of the car. "Nothing, nothing. Where's Edward?" I followed her example and shrugged as I slammed the Volvo door.

"He went out hunting, I guess. He finally feels safe enough to leave you alone," I commented.

"Probably has something to do with my truck breaking down," Bella muttered. I stifled a laugh. I _had _heard Edward and Rosalie discussing ways to make the truck burn out, but I hadn't thought they'd really do it. There was still a slim possibility that they hadn't done anything. I doubted it though.

"Nah," I reassured her, hooking Bella's arm in mine and walking into the house with her. We wandered over to the living room, only to be met by a surprising sight.

All of the Cullens were gathered on the couch and love seat. They didn't look up when we came in, but the man sitting in the recliner across from them did.

"Bree!" he exclaimed, jumping up from the chair. I unlinked my arm from Bella's and stared at him. I had never seen him before in my lives—both as vampire and as human.

"Who are you?"

* * *

**I was tempted to leave it at "...and walking into the house with her." But then I didn't because I was working towards her meeting this dude the whole chapter. I figured it would be a waste to not have him in it. And it would also be just seemingly random fluff. Plus, don't you just love the cliffie? You know you do. :D**

**Review for me, please? Great big hugs to everyone who already did. I just re-read the whole story, and I can tell which parts were influenced by reviewers. You really do make a difference!!**


	14. The Look

"Who are you?" I asked as Bella went to sit next to Edward. The man looked surprised for a moment, as if I should already know who he was.

"Ian," he said, holding out his hand. I shook it briefly, and then looked him over, taking in his full appearance.

Whereas _he_ had been a perfect vision, this Ian guy was less than perfect. Ratty looking, even. He had scruffy, sandy blonde hair that fell into his newborn-red eyes and looked like it should be accompanied by stubble. His clothes weren't the high-end brands I had quickly become accustomed to in my short time with Alice and the rest of the Cullens. Instead, he wore an outfit that seemed worthy of human me when I wasn't at dance—a band tee that showed off his muscles and ripped baggy jeans.

Ian shifted from one bare foot to the other, looking nervous. I flopped down onto the couch, disregarding the person already sitting there.

"Hey!" Rosalie protested. I smiled up at her and then adjusted myself so that I was sitting upright in her lap.

"Hi, Rose-Rose, how's it hangin'?" I asked obnoxiously, purposefully choosing to ignore the fact that a newborn vampire was still standing in the living room, still shifting his weight from foot to foot, and giving me that _look._

I knew that look. I saw it on the faces of each of my new family members at _least_ once a day. It was the look of completely irrevocable love. And since Ian was giving me that look, I figured I had every right to freak out. Instead, I was resorting to a method that had worked just fine for me many times before—ignorance and denial.

"It was 'hangin'' fine, until a certain someone came and ruined it for me," Rosalie replied, an evil glint in her eyes. _That_ was another look I knew quite well. She pushed me off her lap with a resounding thud and declared: "Brat!" I smiled and got up, dancing over to the recliner Ian had recently vacated.

"That's me!" I said cheerfully. Emmett snorted.

"Oh, that's you alright. Can't do a thing with falling on someone or something. You can't even lean out windows to breathe the fresh air!" I made a face at him, then glanced discreetly over at Ian and cringed slightly. He was still giving me the look, if anything, it had intensified. He now reminded me of Edward's face when he looked at Bella. All puppy-like and adoring.

"Whatever, Bree," Edward said. I smiled sweetly at him. "Ian, where are you from?"

Ian seemed to relax a bit now that someone had addressed him. "I came here from Florida," he said. I raised my eyebrows. He had come _that _far? Why? Edward seemed to be on the same wavelength as me—oh wait, he's in my head—because that was the next thing he asked.

"After I was changed, I felt this pull," Ian explained. "I followed it and it led me here, to Bree." I scowled. Why the hell was I so important? How the hell did he know my name?

"Why do I matter to you?" I asked him. Ian turned to look at me. I looked away. I couldn't stand that look.

"I don't know. I just know that you are the reason I came here, maybe even the reason I was changed into... this." Carlisle spoke up then.

"Who changed you?" Ian shrugged.

"I don't know. I just remember waking up, and then I followed the pull. I don't remember anything before that at all." Alice looked sympathetic. I wondered why she was here and not working on the wedding plans, but then I noticed the Blackberry she was typing away on. Alice was such a multitasker.

"You don't remember any of your human life?" Alice asked without looking up from the Blackberry.

"No, nothing," Ian replied, seeing that his nod went unseen.

"That's too bad. I don't remember my human life either."

"How did you know my name?" I asked, interrupting the sympathetic moment.

"Erm... they told me it," Ian said nervously. I sensed there was something more to the story.

"Oh yeah, we did," Jasper added. "But Ian here knew exactly what you looked like. At first we thought he was describing Alice, but then he said your eyes were red. So we told him you'd be back soon."

I eyed Ian suspiciously.

"How did you know what I looked like, then?" I pressed.

"It was sort of part of the pull... I had visions of you, sort of." I glanced at Alice. She was looking up from her Blackberry now, looking interested. She grilled Ian on the kinds of visions he'd had—which turned out to be my face. Nothing else, just my face. It wasn't like what I knew of Alice's visions at all, really. Alice went back to the Blackberry.

There was a moment of awkward silence, and then Alice's Blackberry made a loud pinging noise. She jumped up and raced out of the room, in the direction of the stairs. Emmett stood up.

"Sorry to break up the party, even though Alice already did. Rosalie and I are heading out." He had a mischievous glint in his eyes as he grabbed Rosalie's hand and pulled her up and out the front door. It was obvious what they were going to do... though where, I had no idea. Edward was wrinkling his nose. Wherever it was, it wasn't pretty. I fought an urge to laugh.

"We should go see the progress on the wedding plans," Bella told Edward.

"I'll join you," Jasper said, standing up at the same time as Bella and Edward. Esme gave Carlisle a peck on the cheek then hopped up as well. All four of them headed over to the stairs, leaving me in the living room with Carlisle and Ian.

Carlisle sighed and I mentally groaned. I knew what was coming. "I have to take a shift at the hospital," Carlisle said. I nodded grimly. "Why don't you show Ian around? He can have the ground floor bedroom."

"Oh, good, a bed," Ian said excitedly. I raised my eyebrows at him. "I haven't slept in weeks." Carlisle and I laughed.

"Are you even tired?" I asked him.

"No, but I figured I was running on an adrenaline high or something," Ian replied nonchalantly. I started to laugh even harder while Carlisle explained.

"We don't sleep. Vampires, that is. And since you're one now, there'll be no sleeping, sadly." Carlisle chuckled again and then glanced at his watch. "I better be going. Have a good time, kids!" He disappeared to the other side of the house, the garage exit obviously. I rolled my eyes. A good time with Ian? I didn't think so. He wanted me, I could tell, but I just wasn't ready for a relationship. Not after him.

I turned to look at Ian. The look wasn't in his eyes anymore, but I shuddered at the memory of it.

"Ready for the grand tour?" I asked.

"Sure am. This looks like a castle," he said. I choked back a laugh.

This seemed like it was going to be fun. If it weren't for the fact that the look was back.

* * *

**Lol, Ian is pretty dumb, hey? "I wanna sleep!!" "You can't." Classic.**

**Anyways, Bree isn't ready for new love, but Ian sure is. He doesn't have old love! :P Okay, peeps, review! *hugs and kisses for all***


	15. Unexpected

I had shown Ian around the house, avoiding looking at his face in order to not see the look on his face. As soon as I finished the tour I had mumbled an excuse about needing to go hunt, and rushed out the door before he could follow. Now I was perched in this tree, avoiding Ian.

I was sure Alice knew where I was, and I wondered why exactly she hadn't sent someone to get me to help her—after all, helping Alice was the only thing I ever did, really, unless I was hunting. I pulled my brand new cell phone out of my pocket to check if anyone had called. I flipped it open—there was one missed call from Jasper. I took that to mean he was retrieving me for Alice, and jumped out of the tree. I ran to the house at a fast human pace, pressing Jasper's speed dial key as I did so. Jasper picked up halfway through the first ring.

"Bree!" he exclaimed in relief. I smiled.

"Hi, Jasper. I'm headed back to the house. Is she being particularly bossy?" I asked.

"It's nothing to do with that, it's... just get back here fast," he said quickly. The phone line cut out and I hung up, confused. I accelerated my pace to the fastest I could go and arrived at the house in ten seconds or so, throwing the door open and calling out a hello.

Edward appeared at the top of the stairs. "You, it's your fault. If you weren't here—" Emmett shoved his way around Edward, interrupting him.

"Calm down, Edward, it's not her fault. Bree, you better get up here." Emmett looked worried and Edward was still fuming when I walked past him, following Emmett into Edward's bedroom. I frowned. What the hell was going on?

I got my answer when the door opened to reveal Bella lying on the bed. It was obvious she was in a lot of pain, but she wasn't making any noise at all. There was blood smeared on the gold comforter of the bed. I put a hand over my mouth and nose and backed out of the room, holding my breath. It was Bella's blood, and I didn't want to attack her.

"What happened?" I asked through my hand.

"_He _bit her," Edward growled. I stared at him.

"What? Ian bit her?" I repeated, disbelieving. Emmett nodded. "Why?"

"You'd have to ask him," Rosalie added from behind me.

"Where is he?" I asked, dropping my hand from my face.

"I don't know. I pulled him off of her and when he came to his senses he ran out the front door. No one bothered following him; we were all worried about Bella." I hissed and ran back outside. I stopped at the bottom of the porch steps, trying to find Ian's scent so that I could follow him. I found it and ran down the driveway, turning right at the end of it. I ran faster than I ever had before and spotted Ian in the distance. He was almost all the way to Forks before I caught up to him and grabbed his arm, dragging him to a halt.

"What did you do that for?" I spat in his face. He cringed.

"I didn't mean to, it's just... she smelt so good, and..." he trailed off. I knew just what he meant, but it seemed he had less self control than I did. I shook my head.

"Why didn't you attack her in the first place?" I wondered. He looked sheepish.

"I think I was too distracted by you," he admitted. I frowned. There he went again with the look.

"Don't look at me like that," I snapped.

"Like what?"

"Like _that!" _I yelled in frustration. "Like you want to fucking eat me or something! It's your fault that all the Cullens are going to shun me now. I apparently brought you to them, therefore putting you within biting distance of Bella. Why couldn't you have just stayed in Florida?" I dropped his arm in disgust.

He stared at me, opening and closing his mouth like he was trying to say something. I snorted. "Don't even try to talk to me. Leave now, and don't ever come near me again." I pointed to the south, away from Forks. Ian looked like he was going to cry. I turned heel and started to run back towards the Cullens. I didn't stop until I was a good distance away, and then I turned to see if he was still there. He wasn't and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Back at the Cullens, everyone was either in Edward's room or in the hallway outside it. I walked slowly up the stairs, dragging my feet. I wasn't tired from running, I just didn't want to face anyone.

"What happened?" Alice asked anxiously from the top of the stairs.

"I told him where to go, and he obeyed," I said simply. Alice nodded thoughtfully.

"I guess my vision wasn't meant to be true," she said. I shrugged. I knew it wasn't. Vampires only have one true love, and mine had already been and gone.

"How's Bella?" I asked.

"How do you think she is?" Edward hissed at me. "That man bit her, and she's changing into a vampire." I cringed.

"Why don't you guys suck the venom out like you did with James?" I asked. I had been told all the stories already.

Carlisle shook his head. "Bella wanted to be a vampire. She was going to be changed after her wedding anyways."

"We decided it would be pointless for her to have to go through the pain of this and also the pain of the change after her wedding." I nodded thoughtfully. That made sense, though it was sad that Bella wouldn't be able to experience her honeymoon the way she'd wanted to.

The End

Or is it?...

* * *

**My friend decided that that was the end of the chapter.**

**It's in my hands whether it's the end of the story... *evil laugh***

**Please review and tell me what you think of the chapter (and Dionne, because she insists)! :D**

**NOW A NOTE FROM DIONNE: THE ONE WHO CHOSE THE ENDING...**

_**all you story writers out there remember this...**_

_**1. people may not like your story, but it could be worse.. A frog could shit on your head.**_

_**2. you may not get reviews, but it could be worse.. an elephant could eat your chocolate bar.**_

_**3. you may get writers block, but it COULD be worse.. I could write more of these..**_

_**4. you may not like this chapter, but it could be worse.. everybody could have died, leaving us with only Ian, who would then lick your ear.**_

_**5. i may not like YOU, but it could be worse.. you could not like ME..**_

_**6. and lastly, *pauses*... you may not meet Edward Cullen, BUT it could be worse, I could totally track you down and kick your ass for not REVIEWING JENNYS STORY!!!!**_


	16. Under Water

"It's your fault! You left him alone when you should have known damn well that he would attack Bella without you there!" Edward shouted.

"Now, now, Edward. Bree couldn't have known this would happen," Esme tried to reason with him. I continued to sit numbly on the living room couch as I had been doing ever since I'd left the upstairs hallway because I couldn't bear to be near all the anxiety. I cringed at the thought of being Jasper right now. It hadn't mattered though; the hatred—far worse than anxiety—had decided to follow me.

"Are you planning on saying something or are you just going to sit there?" Edward asked snidely. I sighed. Truthfully, I didn't have anything to say that Edward hadn't said already.

"It was my fault," I intoned. "I shouldn't have left him here without me. I should have known he would attack Bella, because I've been there before. I just thought he would have enough control, like I did. I just couldn't bear to be near that look he was giving me. I don't want to be with anyone else, and he was trying to seduce me! I don't want to be seduced!" My voice grew higher as I went on, and had I been human I would be crying by now.

The look in Edward's eyes softened. "No, Bree," he sighed gently, kneeling down and taking my hands, "Esme's right. You couldn't have known." I shook my head.

"I should have though. I should have," I insisted.

I got up off the couch numbly and walked slowly up the stairs, all the way to my room. I walked at a human pace because it made me feel less... weird. I crawled onto the bed and wrapped my arms around my knees, burying my face into them. I wished fervently that I had never ordered Thai that fateful night. I had wished this before, but never as fiercely as I did now. I wished I had never walked down that alleyway. I wished I had tried to run away when I first woke up. I wished that _he_ had never been born. At least then I wouldn't have to deal with the heartache. I wished I had let the Volturi kill me. I wished I hadn't had a power in the first place. I wished I were dead.

I contemplated suicide. The Volturi were already pissed off at me, maybe I could go to them and tell them to kill me, please and thank you. Edward had done it. They had told him no, but maybe they wouldn't mind if I were dead.

Or, more original, I could cover myself in gasoline and throw a match onto myself. That would work nicely.

Even better, I could set myself spinning and burning with my power. Nice and neat, no gas fumes or other vampires involved. But somehow, I didn't think it was possible to do it to myself.

Maybe Edward would kill me. Maybe I could wait until Bella was finished changing and let her kill me. She was sure to be pissed that I'd ruined her and Edward's plans.

Or maybe I should just go kill a human. Then, by the terms of my surrender, they'd have to kill me.

I had had a reason to live: my new life with the Cullens. But now I wasn't worthy of their kindness—if they were even willing to give me it any anymore. I did not deserve it after what I'd done.

I sat on the bed without moving a muscle for two hours before making a decision. As soon as I did, I ran over to the window and jumped. No, I wasn't trying to commit suicide—I already knew jumping out a window wasn't going to hurt me—I was trying to leave as fast as I could so that Alice couldn't catch me before I got far enough away.

After I was gone, it wouldn't matter. I wasn't planning on paying attention to where I went; it wasn't like it particularly mattered. All that was important was that I was getting away from them so that they wouldn't be hurt anymore by my actions—or my lack of action.

I hit the ground on my feet, cat-like, and took off running in the opposite direction from Forks.

I didn't stop.

**Bella's POV**

I opened my eyes to see Edward's gold eyes staring down at me.

"What the heck?" I asked, sitting up. My voice sounded too pretty, I almost didn't realize it was me. Edward leaned away. I blinked, looking at Edward. I felt like I was seeing him with new eyes—every little detail stood out, each one unique and individual, but all meshing perfectly to create the godly vision in front of me. I reached out faster than I'd meant to and touched his face. "You're beautiful," I breathed. He smiled and I stopped breathing.

I heard a familiar laugh from over in the corner, it was Alice."Sorry to break up the party, but how are you feeling, Bella?"

"Never better," I replied, not missing a beat.

Alice laughed again. "Well, obviously, but I meant more emotion wise. Are you mad at all about what happened?"

"Um... what exactly did happen?" I tried to recall, but my mind was fuzzy, the human memories nothing compared with what I could see now. I vaguely remembered someone flying at me... Jasper?

"Well, Bree decided that she'd leave Ian here alone, and Ian couldn't resist your oh-so-delicious blood," Edward stated. I cringed. _Ian... right. Forgot about him._

"Are you blaming it on Bree?" I asked suspiciously.

"He did," Alice jumped in. I turned to Edward, accusation in my eyes. He shouldn't have blamed her; the events were out of Bree's hands.

"But various people convinced me otherwise," Edward assured me. My eyes softened, and I looked around the room. I was sitting on Edward's bed. The room hadn't changed much physically, but I saw everything in a new light. I resisted an urge to examine everything in detail again.

"Where's everyone else?" I inquired, noticing that Alice and Edward were the only ones present.

"Um... Esme's in the kitchen, Carlisle's at work, Rose and Em are upstairs, and Jasper is in his study," Alice listed.

"What about Bree? Ian?"

"Well, after Ian bit you he ran off and Bree followed him, proceeding to tell him that he was horrible. Then she came back to Edward here yelling at her, which then drove her back into depression, causing her to consider many different ways to commit suicide—let me tell you, that kid is creative." Alice laughed without emotion. "Finally, she just decided to leave, and I didn't catch it until she was miles away from here."

"So nobody went after her?" I asked incredulously. They let a suicidal vampire who the Volturi were considering the fate of run away? What if she hurt herself? What if the Volturi got to her?

"She thought you would have the same reaction as me," Edward explained. "She thought you would be angry she had ruined your plans."

"But she didn't!" I protested. "I mean, sure, I wanted the deal and everything, but this is what happened, and it's not anymore Bree's fault than it's a... pig's fault."

"She thought she wasn't worthy of our kindness anymore, too," Edward added.

Alice snorted. "And whose fault is that? You're the one who told her she was a complete and utter failure for "letting" Ian bite Bella!"

Edward looked chagrined. I put my hand on his arm reassuringly.

"But I still don't understand why no one went after her," I probed.

`Edward sighed. "We thought she needed some time to think everything through."

"How long has she been gone? Have you been having visions of her, Alice?"

"She left the day Ian bit you, maybe two and a half days ago, and no, I don't really get visions of her... just flashes of trees and mountains... a waterfall once..." Alice's eyes turned distant.

"Is she having a vision?" I asked Edward. He held up a hand, which I took to mean yes.

Alice's eyes came back into focus. "Water... a lot of water."

"She's underwater," Edward added helpfully.

"Yes, that's what it was. I couldn't tell." Alice sighed.

I wrinkled my nose. "Underwater? What is she doing?"

Alice shook her head. "I have no idea," she said helplessly.

"Do you think we could find her?" I wondered out loud. It felt wrong to leave her out there, feeling all alone and without friends. Bree had been through enough pain, what with being turned and then the love of her life dying.

"I don't know..." Alice said doubtfully.

"We can try," Edward said, squeezing my hand. I smiled at him. "Oh, Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Want to see your after car?"

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Typical Edward, talking about cars when we need to find someone."

Alice, Edward, and I headed to the garage at vampire speed—which was totally exhilarating and made me want to run rather than drive the car, though both Alice and Edward insisted driving was more convenient—and Edward opened the garage door, making a beeline for the covered car parked on the opposite side. "Ready?"

I gestured for him to just do it already. It's not like a car was that much of a big deal, what with all the money they had. Besides, we should be going to look for Bree _now._ She had been out there a long time now.

Edward whipped off the sheet to reveal a red sports car. "A Ferrari F430," Edward stated proudly. I nodded.

"It's nice."

Edward's face fell. "Just nice?"

I slid into the driver's seat, saying, "You know I don't care about cars, Edward." Alice and Edward followed my lead, Edward in shotgun, Alice in the back.

"Where to, Alice?" I asked, revving the engine. I glanced back at her, her eyes were glazed.

"Ooh, Niagara Falls! I totally recognized them that time!" Alice exclaimed. I peeled out of the driveway and almost laughed: I may not officially be a Cullen, but I sure was driving like one.

**Bree's POV**

I sat at the top of Horseshoe Falls under the water like a rock, not moving a muscle. I listened to the water pass by my ears, relishing the musical sound, trying to get lost in it. I didn't know how long I had been here, but I didn't feel like moving. I knew I should if I didn't want to be found, but I still didn't. Today was the day that Bella's change would most likely become complete. I wondered what was going on in the Cullen house; what Bella's reaction to becoming a vampire was. I wished I were there, but at the same time, I didn't want to be at all. I wasn't good for them, and I didn't deserve them.

All of a sudden I heard an irregularity in the flow of the water to my left. I sub-consciously turned my head toward the sound to come face to face with a pair of dark blue jeans. I frowned. _What the hell?_

I decided to surface and find out who the jeans were attached to. I burst out of the water, slicking my hair back and looking at the brunette, red-eyed girl standing in front of me.

"Bella?" I sputtered out.

She cocked her head. "Miss me?"

"Just a bit," I told her. I really had missed her. "Are you here to kill me?"

Bella laughed. "No, why would I do that?"

"I don't know, maybe because I'm the reason you're like this now?"

"Oh, I don't blame you, Bree. No one does. I was going to become this anyways. Sooner is better than later, though I didn't mind waiting until after the wedding."

"Oh, the wedding! It's completely ruined now!" I lamented. _All that hard work..._

"No, we can still do it. I just walked through that whole crowd of people up there and didn't attack a single one. I held my breath," she admitted. That was impressive. None of the newborns I had met would have been able to do that.

"So... you want me to come back?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes, if you want to. We won't force you... but I really wish you would. I still want you to be my bridesmaid," she said quietly.

I sighed. "Fine, I'll come back. But don't be surprised when I just attract more danger," I warned her.

"Don't worry, Bree. We'll be danger magnets together." She linked her arm through mine and dragged me in the direction of the top of the falls.

"Double the trouble," I mumbled, and we both burst into laughter.

* * *

**Thank you for reading!**

**Also, special thanks to JennCD for pre-reading and telling me I'm paranoid.**

**But there was a mistake, so HA. :P**

**Review please! :D**


	17. The Grab

**I know that Bella is a newborn yet she is having a wedding that humans are attending. She does have the two years of knowing about vampirism and about two weeks has passed since the last chapter (sorry about the time skip, it was necessary) so everyone is used to her skin and such changes.  
Enjoy!**

* * *

The day of the wedding I whirled around the house, setting things up and checking off to myself, "Flowers, flowers, flowers, guestbook..." while Alice, Bella, and Rose got ready upstairs. Alice and I had done most of the initial set-up already, but I was just putting the "final" touches on everything—knowing Alice we were going to move every single little thing at least fifty more times.

I straightened the petal on an orange blossom that no one would ever even glance at and surveyed the room. It looked beautiful already—and it wasn't even half finished!

"Okay, Rose, you finish up her hair and makeup. I'm going to go downstairs and help out Bree with some decorations," I heard Alice's voice drifting down the staircase.

"Alice!" I shrieked as I saw her black head of pinned curls.

"What? What happened?" she panicked, running over to me.

"Look at everything we still have to do... the ribbons aren't hung, the chairs don't have their bows on them, Renee and Phil need to be picked up from their hotel, Charlie needs to pick up Mr. Weber and he didn't even have Bella to remind him this morning, the lights aren't on the trees outside..." I hyperventilated, clutching Alice's shoulders.

"Ow, Bree," she complained. "Calm down. The lights outside are actually hung, I let Bella do that last night. Jasper went to get Phil and Renee. Bella called Charlie no less than three times this morning to remind him of that very fact, and as for those ribbons and bows, you and I can get those done in no time. Capiche?"

"Capiche." I sighed, my breathing going back to normal. I found it strange that vampire's breathing patterns changed even though we didn't need oxygen, but I was no scientist. Was there even such a thing as a vampire scientist? Maybe Carlisle.

I could ask him about the breathing thing later then.

"Um, Alice?" I asked, unravelling white ribbon from a large roll while she snipped it off at regular intervals.

"Yeah?"

"When are we getting dressed and make-up'd?"

At that Alice started laughing. "Make-up'd?" she questioned.

"Yeah..." I shrugged.

"Weren't you just distressed about finishing with the decorations?" Alice asked, still laughing. We continued our work on the ribbon, now tying the portions into bows to put on the chairs.

"Well, you just reassured me that half the things I was stressed over were done or being done," I reasoned. We finished the last bow and began to put them on the chairs.

"Are you excited?" Alice asked suddenly.

"Yeah," I answered automatically. "Bella's going to look beautiful, and the wedding's going to look beautiful..."

"It is," Alice agreed. I smacked another bow onto a chair with unnecessary aggression. I glanced towards the stairs, wondering what Bella looked like. Oddly, I thought I saw her newly pale skin disappear behind the corner. I put another bow on a chair and looked back up to see the top of her head poking out around the corner. I dropped the remaining bows in my arms onto the floor and flew up the stairs, pushing Bella back into Alice's room and then Alice's bathroom.

"Bella! How did you get out?" I reprimanded.

"You sound like you're scolding a puppy," Bella joked.

I rolled my eyes.

"Well, Rose went to get a whatchamacallit hair thingy and I thought I'd see what you guys were doing so that I don't faint from the shock of it all when I walk down the stairs," Bella explained.

"You can't faint," I dead panned.

"Oh crap," Bella groaned. "I... forgot?"

"Isabella Marie Swan, you did not forget, and you know it. Now stay put while we wait for your mother to get here."

"I'm here, I'm here!" Renee called, out of breath. She'd been in town the past two days, helping out with anything and everything she could. This wasn't much, however, as Alice wouldn't let her touch much.

"Mom!" Bella exclaimed, jumping up to give her mother a hug.

"Bella, oh Bella honey, you look beautiful!" Renee gushed.

Bella rolled her eyes. "Mom, my hair isn't even finished, nor am I dressed."

"Well, your hair certainly looks finished... spin," Renee ordered. Bella obliged. "Oh... no. The combs..."

"I've got them," Rose declared, striding into the room. Renee breathed a sigh of relief and took two heavy silver combs with blue sapphires arranged into floral designs on top of the teeth.

"Oh, good," Alice said, gliding into the room in her silver bridesmaid dress.

Bella gasped. "Alice..."

Alice waved her off and took one of the combs from Renee. "This is nothing Bella. Just wait until you're in your dress."

Bella sighed and shook her head. "I don't believe it," she mumbled, so quietly only vampires could hear. Alice rolled her eyes in my direction and when she was sure Renee was looking away, mouthed, 'she doesn't even realize.'

I giggled and nodded. Alice shoved the comb into Bella's hair and stepped back appreciatively.

"Okay, Bella, Bree... _Rose_. It's time for all of you to get dressed. Rose, why aren't you wearing your dress? I thought that's what you were doing before?" Alice cocked her head and put her hand on her hip.

Rose looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable. "I, um, was telling Emmett that he had to, um, help put up, um, the, um, white ribbons downstairs."

"Really?" Alice raised her eyebrows.

"Really." Rosalie put her hand on her hip and raised her eyebrows back at Alice. Renee raised her eyebrows at them both and stepped in between them, putting her hands on both hips.

"Okay, ladies, break it up, it's Bella's day, just leave it for another day..."

Rosalie shook her head and left the room quickly. I laughed and took my perfect match to Alice's dress off the hanger that was hung on the shower curtain rod.

I headed up to my room to change, glad for the curtains I had thought to buy. It wasn't really a smart idea to just change for everyone who was outside to just look up and see.

I headed back down the stairs, stopping for a second outside Alice's bedroom. I could hear Bella and her mother having a bonding moment over the wedding dress, so I continued to the ground floor. I met Alice coming back up the stairs.

"You look great, Bree! What did you do to your hair?" she twittered. Whoa, what was she on?

"I cut myself bangs," I replied, scrunching my forehead. Alice really was exceptionally unobservant... I'd done that the day before Renee and Phil got here.

"Oh, I know, but did you do something else?"

"No..."

"Well, I think you should backcomb this part right here," she said, grabbing part of my hair and doing something to it for a second. She let me go and smiled. "Perfect."

"Okay, thanks, Alice."

"Any day, darling," she drawled, taking up some of Jasper's accent.

I continued down the stairs to meet Charlie at the bottom of them.

"Oh... Charlie. Hey. They're upstairs, in Alice's room," I told him, pointing and smirking.

"Thanks, Bree," he said, starting to tread up the stairs and straightening his tie.

"Oh yeah, Charlie?"

"Yes?"

"You look great," I said honestly, smiling.

He smiled weakly. "Thanks, I guess."

I turned and headed into the living room, where Edward was pacing, and Emmett was indeed hanging ribbons. Jasper was sitting in a chair, staring at Edward with a look of concentration on his face. The closer I got to him, the calmer I felt.

"Uh, Jasper, if I was human, I think I'd be sleeping," I said, sitting down in the chair next to Jasper and giving him a friendly hug. "How's your day been going?"

"Frustrating." He sighed and the calming atmosphere lessened, thought it was still there. Edward continued to pace, running his fingers through his hair. I ignored him.

"Hey, Em, thanks. I thought I was going to have to do that, but I guess not," I said smugly.

"Yeah, Rose came running up and shrieked at me that I had to come down here 'right this instant and start helping because lying on this bed isn't helping anything,'" Emmett mimicked in a falsetto.

Jasper laughed. "Well, dude, it wasn't. I was helping. I went and picked Renee and Phil up." Jasper looked pretty smug, and his foot started tapping on the floor. Emmett smacked some ribbon on the wall and made a dent. I snorted.

"Am I done yet?" Emmett complained, hopping down off of the ladder. I stood up and looked at the wall. It was actually pretty decent.

"Yeah, it's perfect, Emmett. Now go change into your wedding clothes," I ordered, Alice style.

Emmett's face lit up and he whipped off his white tee shirt. "I'm too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt," he sang as he headed upstairs to get ready. I raised my eyebrows at Jasper who was shaking his head.

"Wait until you see him dance to that song at the actual reception," he said. Edward continued to pace.

I turned to him and shrieked, "Will you stop acting all lovey dovey already?"

That stopped him.

"What?"

"I mean, you're all nervous and shit, it's making me sick. Just _stop_."

"Um, okay..."

"Thank you. Now just stand still right where Bella can see you when she walks down the aisle and wait, okay?"

"Yes," Edward replied. Jasper guffawed behind me.

"Now, the guests should be arriving like right now, so I'm going to go upstairs and send everyone that can and will be seen down, sound good you two?"

They both nodded and I headed upstairs.

"Okay, everyone," I declared, walking into the Alice's bathroom, "I know Bella is completely stunning, but everyone who can needs to go downstairs because guests should be arriving right now."

The doorbell rang.

"See what I mean? Go, go, hello, Phil, haven't had a chance to greet you today, go, go," I ushered everyone but Alice, Renee, Charlie, Bella, and myself out.

"Oh, my little girl," Renee gushed again, reaching out to Bella. Bella sighed and hugged her.

"Go on, Mom, you need to get downstairs," Bella shooed.

"Alright." Renee breezed out the door, blowing Bella a kiss. Bella waved.

"Are you ready superstar?" Charlie asked Bella.

Bella took a deep, unnecessary breath—again with the changing of breathing patterns in vampires—and nodded. "You got it. Oh, and thanks for the compliment, Bree."

"It was nothing," I assured her, and it really wasn't. She did look stunning. It brought me back to my little stunt downstairs. I hadn't really been sickened by Edward, but he was too nervous to be reading my mind right now, and if he had, all he would have heard was song lyrics anyways. But now that I thought about it, I was never going to have a wedding day because I was never going to have someone to marry. My someone had died.

I tried to keep a positive outlook as to not put a negative onto Bella and Edward's wedding, but it was difficult. Alice babbled to Bella about something and then suddenly grabbed my arm and dragged me to the top of the stairs.

"Good luck," she whispered in my ear, and I vaguely registered a classical tune that Alice had finally picked out after many changes drifting up the stairs. I started to walk down them, listening to the titters of the crowd. I thought about how traumatizing it would be to fall down the stairs in front of all these people I didn't know—it would be a good thing I didn't, I guess.

I thought I saw a flash of black, almost blue hair in the sea of heads, but it disappeared before I could fully register it and I passed it off as wishful thinking. I wanted him here, but it was impossible. Some things you just didn't move on from, no matter how much you wanted to.

I made it to the end of the stairs unscathed and stood in my place. Alice joined me, and finally Bella stood across from Edward. They stared into each other's eyes and I tore my own away to look at the crowd instead, choosing not to torture myself with the love they were feeling. I was happy for them, but I was sorry for myself. It was allowed.

Scanning the crowd, I could have sworn I saw the hair again, but it was an even faster flash this time, and I scolded my brain for being so wishful. He was dead. He could not be attending Bella and Edward's wedding. I repeated this mantra over and over in my head until the crowd erupted in applause and then chuckles. Mr. Weber announced Bella and Edward as Mr. And Mrs. Cullen, and we all headed back up the aisle to participate in the 'hug train' as I overheard Emmett call it.

I wasn't in the mood for hugs, but I put a smile on my face and began hugging, pretending to act like it was a normal day and I wasn't in a sort of mourning.

I was in the middle of hugging Kate when it happened.

Two skinny but strong arms wrapped around my waist and yanked me away from her, lifting me up and carrying me into the forest at vampire speed. I kicked and tried to scream, but a hand clamped around over my mouth.

"Shh, it's only me. Don't be afraid," I heard a musical voice whisper in my ear. I immediately fell still. We continued running for only a moment more before he laid me on the ground and looked at me with red eyes, black hair falling slightly into his face.

_Him._

"What's your name?" I asked. It had always been my biggest regret that I hadn't asked him his name when I first met him.

"Justin," he answered, sitting down on the grass beside me. "Yours?"

"Bree," I replied, sitting up. I stared at his face a moment longer, collecting my thoughts. I couldn't believe he was here in front of me, when all this time I'd thought he was dead. I reached up and touched his face, running my index finger down his jaw line. "I thought you were dead," I whispered, my voice breaking.

"I was," he replied, staring at me intensely. "But do you know how you kill a vampire, Bree?" he asked, slightly rolling the R in my name. I loved the way it sounded.

"You... rip them apart and burn the pieces," I answered, letting my hand fall and bring my knees up to my chest; wrapping my arms around them.

"They didn't burn my pieces." Justin grimaced. "So I regenerated... and I started looking for you."

"I'm glad," I said sincerely.

"It was hard. It rains all the time around here, so by the time I was me again, the rain had washed away your scent, so I had no idea which way you had went, or even if you were alive. I had to hang on to that hope though, so I started searching." He took my hand and started to caress it. "It was difficult, like I said, but I eventually came across this blonde newborn who said he saw you out this way—wasn't very happy about it either—" I snickered at the thought of Ian not being happy "—and so I came here. Of course, I realized this was the strange-eyes place, and that they weren't going to be very happy to see me, so I just kind of hid in the audience—you didn't look very happy to be there, by the way—and then I stole you, as you can tell," Justin finished the story.

"That's a good story," I enthused, watching his fingers making patterns on my hands.

"Yes, well, I have questions for you. What happened after that Sara chick decided it was a good idea to go psycho bitch on me? Why are you with the strange-eyes? Your eyes kind of have gold flecks in them, you know," he commented. "And why weren't you happy today?"

I took a deep breath and began answer his questions. "Well, after Sara went psycho-bitch I went comatose because I wasn't very happy about you dying—or supposedly dying. I didn't really feel like fighting, and since we were losing hardcore anyways, I surrendered. Then the head vamps of the world showed up and decided they wanted to kill me, which I didn't want to happen, so I killed one of them with my power, which made them run away to decide what to do with me. They told the Cullens to keep an eye on me, so I'm hanging out here. I know there's gold flecks, that's the product of drinking animal blood instead of humans. It's nicer to the world, I recommend it." I smiled at him, and he smiled his radiant smile back at me. "And I wasn't happy today because I felt sorry for myself for never being able to have a wedding because my one and only died... but here he is." I laughed and shifted closer to Justin.

"Yes, here I am," he agreed, moving closer to me as well. "You tell good stories as well."

"So what do we do now?" I asked, leaning towards him.

"I don't know," Justin mused, leaning towards me.

"We could... go watch Emmett dance to 'I'm Too Sexy,'" I murmured, leaning my forehead against his.

"I think that you're sexy enough as it is," he mumbled, and then he kissed me.

I pulled away quite awhile later laughing.

"You have to admit, that was a good line!" Justin protested.

"Yes, yes, perfect enough for me," I assured him. "Do you want to go back now? I'm sure Kate threw a fit when you grabbed me away."

"I didn't let anyone see me," he grumbled.

"Well, that's good, because there were itty bitty humans that would have been scared, right?"

He nodded, and I laughed. We got up from the ground and started walking leisurely towards the house.

"How come you didn't attack the humans, anyways?" I asked. This was another thing that had always befuddled me and would have kept me awake at night if I were human.

"Well, I figure that I have a power that allows me to stop a vampire's bloodlust for a limited amount of time. That's why we were able to go clubbing, remember?"

"I remember," I said softly.

We walked the rest of the distance back to the Cullens in silence, just holding hands in silence.

We could hear the sounds of Linkin Park coming from the house when we were still pretty far away and we both started randomly dancing, which made us laugh. By the time we reached the house it had switched to a slower song by Linkin Park and we were dancing together, but the second we were in sight of the house Alice was out on the porch holding a package of coloured contacts.

"Put these in," she ordered Justin. He obliged, looking a little frightened. Just as he finished popping the second one in, Esme burst out onto the porch.

"Where _have _you been?" she shrieked.

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**Alright, there's the chapter. Esme pulled a Mrs. Weasley, did you notice? Lol.**

**Yes, Gorgeous Boy is back!!! All rejoice, bow down! And he has a name. You can ask JennCD how long it took to get that name, and if you're not happy with it... well I'm not either. Justin is also another reason that Bella would have no problems at the wedding, since he was there using his gift on himself, it was working on her and every other vampire as well.**

**This is the longest chapter I've ever written. It's SO long. And big, too. :D**

**Please show your appreciation for my hard work by reviewing! **


	18. Laughter

I stared blankly at Esme.

"Uh..." I could not for the life of me think of a way to explain what had happened. Carlisle appeared in the doorway behind her with a questioning look on his face.

"I'll explain, Bree," Justin whispered, then raised his voice.

Before Justin could get another word in, Esme interrupted. "Who are you?"

"I'm, um..." Now he was at a loss for words and I was not.

"This is the boy that Alice probably told you about... you know, _him_?" I stressed. Both Esme and Carlisle looked like they understood.

"I thought he died," Carlisle commented, staring intently at Justin and then turning his gaze on me.

"Oh, I did," Justin said. When they looked confused he elaborated, "But they didn't burn me, and I regenerated. I've been looking for Bree since then."

"Well, we are so glad you found her," Esme enthused, smiling and walking across the porch to hug Justin. He let her, stiffening for a moment, but then relaxing into it and hugging her back.

"So am I," he said, winking at me over Esme's shoulder. I smiled at his cheesy move that would have been just gross if anybody else had done it.

"Alright, let's party!" Esme said, pulling away, and throwing up her arms in mock wave mode. I giggled.

"Has Emmett danced to 'I'm Too Sexy' yet?" I asked curiously as we all headed around the house to join the dancing. Alice laughed.

"I think the DJ actually wanted to play it earlier and Jasper made him wait until you were here," she told me. I smiled; how thoughtful of Jasper. "I'll go tell the DJ he can play it now," she continued, and I nodded.

I grabbed Justin's hand and he twirled me around, making me laugh again. We entered the backyard, which was, of course, decorated beautifully. As if on cue, 'I'm Too Sexy' began to play and the dancers cleared a circle in the middle. I could see Emmett's head poking out, so I pulled Justin through the crowd to where we could see.

Emmett was posing like a model, accompanied by occasional pelvic thrusts, fingers pointing to himself, and... I didn't even know what to call it. It looked like he was demonstrating a sex position chart, only in very quick succession. I immediately began to laugh and couldn't stop, no matter what anyone said. Emmett stopped dancing and stared at me, but I just couldn't get the images out of my head. Had I been human, I would have had the worst side stitch, been bright blue, and have tears pouring down my face. It was the most hilarious thing I'd ever seen.

Jasper was suddenly standing in front of me, a worried Alice hovering beside him. Jasper shook his head. "I told you," he said smugly.

I waved my hand at him dismissively, still laughing uncontrollably. He sighed and suddenly I felt depressed and began to cry.

"Uh, Jasper, that was a bit too strong," Alice whispered.

I was hit with a calming wave and then I felt normal.

"Are you alright? What happened there?" Justin asked me.

"Did you see that? It was _hilarious_." I forced myself not to picture Emmett actually doing it, lest I begin laughing again.

"I thought you were never going to calm down though..."

"Oh, that was Jasper's power. He can feel and manipulate the emotions around him."

Justin raised his eyebrows. "Wow. Does anyone else in this house have a power?"

"Yeah, Edward reads minds and Alice sees the future."

"Intense," was Justin's verdict. I agreed.

"Bree, come say goodbye to Bella and Edward!" I heard Alice call from across the dance floor. I sighed and got up off of the floor.

"You coming?" I asked.

"Where else would I go?" he asked, confused. I shrugged.

"Fair point."

After we got Bella changed into suitable travelling clothes we all waved goodbye from the porch. I made Bella promise to get me a souvenir, though what she was going to bring me from the private island Esme was lending them I had no idea.

Bella wrapped her arms around me and squeezed gently, whispering in my ear, "Want to tell me where we're going?"

"Not a chance," I whispered back, then let her go.

"Uh, bye, Justin, it was nice to meet you. I can't wait to get to know you when we get back," Bella said, smiling. He nodded and wrapped an arm protectively around my waist. I snuggled into him.

"Nice to meet you, too," Justin said. "Thanks for letting me crash your wedding."

"Bree helped plan half the thing, so she deserves a special guest," said Bella before she was swept away by Edward, right into the limo.

"You know what I want to do for a honeymoon?" I commented as we went into the house.

Justin raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"Go to Vegas in a limo and drive down the Strip standing up out of the sunroof and waving," I told him, smiling.

"Does this mean you want to get married?"

"Someday. Do you want a tour of the house?"

Justin did, so I gave him one. I got much more into it than I had with Ian, with him I had just went 'this is this, and this is this'. With Justin I actually had fun with it as we worked our way from the bottom up, all the way to my room.

"So... this is where I 'sleep'," I joked.

"Is it?" Justin walked around, checking things out a bit. He turned to me, opening his mouth to ask a question when Rosalie burst through the trap door and into the room.

"You guys better come downstairs. Alice had a vision," she said, her face serious.

"What Rose? What of?" I asked, already starting down with her.

Rose stopped at the top of the stairs and took a deep breath.

"The Volturi are coming back for you," Rosalie said, wide eyed.

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**AN: Short filler chapter with a cliffie. That was so bad. It had an interesting word count of exactly 1000. Hee. At least it was an update...**

**Review please! :D**


	19. Promise

I gripped the wooden banister, crumbling it to pure sawdust. "Why now?" I whimpered to myself. Justin grabbed my shoulders to prevent me from falling over and I leaned heavily into him. "Why me? Why _us_?"

"Who are the Volturi?" he asked, stroking my hair as I dry-sobbed into his chest. I leaned my head back to look up at him.

"Do you remember the head vamp people I told you about?"

He nodded.

"Well, this is them. I guess they made a decision," I said numbly. Justin's grip on me tightened and I buried my head back into his chest.

"What are we going to do about it?" Justin asked roughly, addressing Rosalie over my head.

"Let's just go hear what Alice has to say, alright?" Rose said, her voice almost comforting. I adjusted myself so that I could walk comfortably next to Justin and we went down to where everyone was gathered in the living room, sans Edward and Bella of course.

Alice was pacing the floor, making scuff marks in the carpet where many a path had been worn before.

"Alice, could you sit down please?" Jasper asked, patting the love seat next to him. Alice glared at him but obliged. Emmett was sitting on the end of the couch closest to Jasper, his head buried in his hands. Rose went over to him and sat down, rubbing his back. I followed suit, leading Justin with me and we sat on the couch as well.

"Okay, Alice. Give us your worst," I told her.

Alice grimaced. "They'll be here in a few hours. Basically I was making sure Bella and Edward's flights were going to be on schedule—I was checking on the connection in Houston—and suddenly it flashed to you two," –she gestured to Justin and me—"sitting outside talking. A flock of birds flew out of the woods, startling you, and the Volturi came out of the shadows and that's when it stopped." Alice looked over at me and sighed.

"But they don't have to be coming to get me, do they? They could be coming to tell me that they don't want me," I reasoned.

Jasper shook his head. "No, they wouldn't bother to visit just because of that, especially not Aro."

"Aro?" I asked, confused. I vaguely recalled the name from somewhere... but where?

"He's pretty much the leader of them all. If they didn't want you, they'd just send a low ranked member of the guard to tell us," Alice said.

"And if they were going to kill you, I'm sure Jane would come," Rosalie said grimly. I cringed, remembering what it had felt like to be under the influence of Jane's cruel gift.

"Oh, Jane's coming," Alice said.

We let that sink in silently, all except Justin, who just looked fazed that anyone was coming to hurt me at all.

"What are Bella and Edward doing then?" I asked, curious.

"I'm going to call them as soon as their plane lands in Houston, and I'm sure they'll come straight back. I think they will make it in time, but I can't be quite sure..." Alice's eyes went hazy and distant as she searched the future.

We were all silent for an indeterminable amount of time before Emmett broke the silence with a loud dry-sob.

"Fuckin' V-crowd... taking my new little sister from me... not the newest one, but the one who wasn't human when I met her and is wicked cool and sometimes she swears at me, and Bree?"

"Yeah, Emmett?" I replied, bewildered by his sudden outburst.

"I don't really care about the Jeep, I just bug you because it's fun. I never had a little sister I could bug before because Alice just attacks me and Rosie is Rosie and then if I say anything to Bella Edward will go ape-shit on me, so you were pretty much the default, but it's okay, you know, because I got to upgrade to a better car," he blubbered. Rosalie wrapped her arms around him and rubbed his back, whispering in her ear as he continued to sob into her shoulder.

"Why does all the drama have to happen to us?" he lamented.

I watched as Rose waved at Jasper behind Emmett's back to get his attention, and then pointed to him, and then to her face, putting an obviously fake smile on it. Jasper snickered but apparently obliged because Emmett straightened up and looked embarrassed.

"Uh... thanks, man, I guess," he mumbled, looking down.

"No problem," Jasper said, and then went back to looking worriedly at Alice, who was still staring at the future. _Must be fun. I hope it looks good for us._

I looked over at Justin who was staring at the wall opposite him, looking quite similar to Alice, though not nearly as distant. I poked him in the side.

"Justin?"

His head snapped towards me. "Oh. Yeah, I just spaced out."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing important," he said.

I raised my eyebrows but didn't press the subject. We could talk about it later. There_ was _going to be a later. I was not going to go with the Volturi no matter what they wanted. I'd sooner die.

"Justin?"

"Um, yeah?"

"Will you make me a promise?" I whispered.

"Of course."

"No matter what it is, you promise you'll keep it?"

"I promise."

"No matter what happens to me, you'll keep it?"

"Yes! What is it?"

"I want you to protect yourself, okay? Don't do anything stupid that could get you killed," I said seriously.

"Why would I do that?" he asked, wrinkling his eyebrows. I reached up and smoothed it out with my fingers.

"I can think of some reasons," I mumbled, then raised my voice, "but I don't want you to, alright? Don't. For me."

He nodded and I leaned in to kiss him. When our lips met I half expected Emmett to make some crass joke about us needing to get a room, but instead Alice jumped up from the love seat and shrieked.

"No!"

We broke apart and turned to stare at her and then in the direction she was looking. Neither of these gave us any information whatsoever.

"What is it, Alice? What did you see?" Jasper asked frantically, standing up and grabbing her arm.

"They're going to be here in just a minute! It's too early! They were supposed to take longer than that... Edward and Bella were supposed to be here... and Esme and Carlisle..." she moaned.

"No, it's okay. Esme and Carlisle are here at least," Rose said, looking out the front window as we heard gravel crunch under the weight of car tires.

"But not Edward and Bella," Emmett stated.

"No," Rose agreed.

The front door swung open to reveal Carlisle and Esme, looking very... normal, compared to how we were acting. They both continued into the house without noticing our moods, putting their bags on the table and closing the door. Rose cleared her throat and Esme looked up at us.

"Heavens, why is it so moody in here? You all ought to be happy just after a wedding," she told us. Carlisle nodded his agreement.

"The Volturi are coming back," Alice said.

Carlisle's jacket fell from his hand and into a forgotten puddle on the floor.

"When?" he asked immediately.

Just then, some crows cawed outside and there was the loud fluttering sound of a flock of birds flying away. Emmett glanced out the curtains.

"Now," he answered, looking sombre.

The door whipped open by itself and outside of it stood a group of cloaked figures.

"Hello, Carlisle. It's nice to see you again," the one closest to the door said.

"Indeed it is, Aro. Come in," he invited. The cloaked figures glided by one by one, each taking a long look at me as they passed. _Better get a good look while you can._

"How have you all been?" Aro asked as soon as all of the Volturi members were inside and Esme had closed the door behind them.

Carlisle shook his head. "We have been well, but let's not bother with niceties. I assume you're here on the subject of Bree?"

"Indeed, we are, Carlisle my friend. We have made the decision that she should not be blamed for her actions during that time when she was part of the newborn army the vampire Victoria created, provided she join the Volturi guard," Aro said pleasantly.

"Wait, what? You'll let her off if she joins? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of," Emmett scoffed.

"Emmett," Rosalie hissed, looking in Jane's direction. Jane's eyes were on Emmett, and I knew that any second Emmett could be on the floor writhing in pain.

"Well, I don't see why that would be necessary," Carlisle continued the conversation as if Emmett had never spoken. "Bree has a perfectly good life here with us that I am sure she would like to continue living in peace."

Aro's face expression didn't change. "That is of no consequence. What is of consequence, however, is a law being broken."

Esme bristled. "You can't take her against her will. It's unnecessary and neither I nor any of my family takes any stock in it. You'll have to go through us to get to her."

Jane laughed a shrill laugh. "You think we won't go through your family, and gladly?"

Emmett screamed and my hands flew to my ears, cowering away from the sound, remembering the same pain that I'd gone through when Jane had done the same thing to me. His scream died away and I let my hands fall.

"I can and will do that to all of you. Do you want to try me?" Jane challenged.

"I would, actually."

We all turned to see Bella standing in the doorway, hands on her hips and eyebrows raised. Edward was hovering behind her. _Yes!_

"Oh, if it isn't the little human who isn't so human anymore. I understand you just got married; congratulations. Would you like your wedding gift now or later?" Jane mocked.

"How about now," Bella decided.

"Sounds good." Jane looked at Edward and seemed to try and use her power on him. It didn't work.

While Jane was concentrating, I heard Bella whisper quietly enough so that only we Cullens could hear, _"Back up."_

We all carefully shuffled backwards, pretending to be casual about it. Jane began to look at each of us in turn, seemingly trying to use her power on us. It still wasn't working, for some unknown reason.

"I can't get it to work!" she complained.

Aro looked surprised. "Well, I need you to, so do it."

Jane seemed to be trying again. Nothing happened. I snickered quietly, so quietly that I could barely even hear it.

Then Bella spoke up. "There's no sense in trying to take Bree with the excuse that breaking the rules deserves a consequence. According to everything I learned about vampires when I was human, there is only one rule in the vampire world—don't let any humans know that vampires exist. Bree has done nothing that breaks that rule at all."

Aro looked speechless and Jane continued to stare intently at Edward. I fought an overwhelming urge to laugh, clinging to Justin's hand. I was going to get through this. I finally really believed that statement, it wasn't just something I was saying to make myself feel better.

"Thank you for visiting, it really was nice to see you again. Come again soon," Carlisle said, clearly implying the opposite. Edward opened the door and we all cleared the way for the Volturi to leave.

As soon as the door closed behind them, I shrieked and jumped up and down happily. I felt like Alice, probably because she was doing exactly the same thing. We joined hands and jumped together for a moment, and then I turned to Bella and threw my arms around her.

"Oh my gosh, Bella, that was so perfect! The look on Jane's face was priceless... but how did you do that, stop her from using her gift, I mean?"

Bella laughed and hugged me back. "I'm not entirely sure. I was really angry about how they thought they owned you and everything and I was feeling really protective and I just suddenly could feel the edges of this shield like thing in my mind... and I pushed it out onto Edward so that she couldn't hurt him just like she can't hurt me." Bella smiled to herself and I smiled with her. I had a feeling smiles were going to be a big part of the future. "And then I pushed it out onto all of you... but I couldn't get it all the way to Carlisle, so I got you all to back up, you know."

"Genius," I told her.

"Nah, my brain's always been odd like this," she said. I laughed and danced over to Justin.

"Hey, Justin?"

"Yes, Bree, my love?"

"Guess what."

"What?"

"I think you won't have to worry about that promise now."

"I think I won't have to either," he agreed.

I nestled my head into it's usual spot on his chest and he wrapped his arms around me.

"Because everything is perfect, thanks to everyone and everything," I sighed.

* * *

**AN: Yo, man, dis fic be ovah. But don't freak out yet. Der be a epilogue. Yeah. Dat be fun. Ah know. :D**

**Dee spesh thanks goes tah JennCD cuz she tells me da plot of da fic when I'se fergets it. She's all, "TRD, da birds fly outta da tree next." And I'm all "Oh, right, I totals knew dat." Only really, nuh, I didn't. She did.**

**Please ta leave me a review. Candy fo' those coo' peeps who speak gangsta. :P Other sweet things for those who do not.**


	20. Vegas

**Five Years Later**

"YEAH!" I yelled, waving my still full bottle of some non-descript alcohol at the poor unsuspecting people on the street. Or maybe they weren't so poor and unsuspecting.

I mean, come on, they were in Vegas, and it was at least three in the morning by now.

I dropped back down inside the limo, and started to laugh. Justin cocked his head at me and raised his eyebrows.

"What might my lovely bride be laughing at?" he asked.

"We're in Vegas at three in the morning and we're not even drunk," I pointed out.

Justin smiled. "Not our fault. I'd be drunk if I could be."

I looked at the bottle and squinted, trying to read the label. Then I realized there was no label.

"There's no label on this," I told Justin.

"Nope," he said, glancing at it from across the limo. "Edward ordered it in special, so it's custom made or something... they stocked the limo with it. Though why, I have no idea..."

"Why didn't I notice that before?"

"I have no idea. Why do you have the uncanny ability to act completely and totally drunk while completely and totally sober?"

"I have no idea," I answered, then stood up out of the sunroof again. I enjoyed the breeze on my face as we cruised down the Strip for the eighty-ninth time. We were planning on exactly one hundred times back and forth and then we were going to 'retire' to our hotel room at the Bellagio.

This honeymoon was so strange, and I loved every second.

I sat back down again and said to Justin, "I wonder how many people wonder what the hell we're doing."

"Well, your dress might be a tip off," he suggested. I looked down at the strapless white satin dress I was wearing. It came to about my knees and had the kind of fabric that was in tutus underneath it so that it poofed out. There was a thin line of bright blue on the top of it, and I was wearing ballet flats that matched that colour perfectly. It was exactly my kind of wedding dress, but I didn't think someone looking at me was going to think "bride."

In fact, Alice hadn't let me wear it to my wedding.

So I'd had another wedding in Vegas on my honeymoon.

We were strange.

"How is it a tip-off?" I asked him.

"They think you're a stripper," he said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, they do, do they..." I looked over at him, biting my lip and raising one eyebrow.

He nodded.

"Well, the only person this stripper will be stripping for is you." I leaned across the limo to put my hands on his thighs and start crawling my way up his body until my hands reached his shoulders and I was an inch away from his face.

"Just ten more times," I said, and stood up out of the sunroof again.

This time, Justin stood up next to me. "Hey, this is actually fun."

I rolled my eyes. "I know, that's why I've been doing it the whole time, Oh Gorgeous One."

"Hm, I like it up here better now, I think," he said, moving closer to me. "And 'Oh Gorgeous One?'"

"You just like it because this sunroof is not big," I said. "And yes, Gorgeous One. It's what I called you before I knew your name. Haven't I ever told you that?"

"No, you never told me that, and maybe that's why I like the sunroof," he admitted. "But is that such a bad thing? I'm a married man. Twice." He pulled me closer to him and held onto my waist.

"Nah, it's not." I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down closer so that I could kiss him. Someone on the street wolf-whistled and I gave them the finger, still kissing my husband. _Was that Emmett? I swear to God, if he came on our honeymoon..._

"Maybe we should stop letting the public watch us," he murmured into my mouth.

I dragged him down into the limo as an answer.

* * *

**AN: That was pointless, yet fun. Yeah. I thought it was fun, at least. :D**

**If you liked this and you want more fun in Vegas, you could check out Nine Billion Dollar Heist, which is my co-written fic hosted on R.M.J. Lennixx's profile. Bree is going to have a cameo in that, which will be fun, lol. **

**Thanks for reading my entire story, it means a lot to me... must have been hard to get through those first chapters! xD This is the second multi-chapter story I've completed, and all in one week, too! I'm so proud of myself... **

**Please review and share your thoughts! :D**


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